Charlotte Hornets: LaMelo Ball continues to impress, should be a starter soon
By Criss Partee
LaMelo Ball continues to impress for the Charlotte Hornets
LaMelo Ball is building his resume into a strong argument to become the Charlotte Hornets starting point guard sooner rather than later. On Saturday night, Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double at 19 years, 140 days old.
What makes this accomplishment even more extraordinary is him accomplishing this coming off the bench playing 31 minutes. Ball filled the stat sheet with an impressive line scoring 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
The youngest Ball brother was red hot from the floor, shooting 69.2 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point land. Ball also logged a plus-18 in the game. Showing when he was on the floor, his production was more valuable than any other player for either team.
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On top of the big night for Ball, he did it in a winning effort which is the best part of his record-breaking game. Thus far, Ball has started his first 10 games as a backup coming off the bench, though his minutes have increased rapidly.
With Ball’s elevated play on the court, over time support, and pressure from above, advocating for Ball as a starter will grow. The Hornets’ head coach James Borrego and management have a plan for bringing Ball along slowly. They have not just thrown him out there to play 30 minutes per night out the gate. Ball will have to compete at a high level and earn the starting point guard job on this team.
Currently, the Hornets are starting Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier in the backcourt. Both are good players in their own right. Though, neither guy was taken as high as Ball (3rd overall in 2020) in their respective drafts.
Both Graham and Rozier have played well, but there will come a time where the Hornets will need to decide on who they want to pair with Ball for the long-term. While Rozier does represent the Hornets’ most reliable scoring threat in the backcourt, team ‘Governor’ Michael Jordan might feel inclined to move Rozier and his hefty $19 million per year contract soon.
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Having Ball in your back pocket makes this a feasible option and could potentially set up their backcourt of the future to build around Ball and Graham. Either way, Ball is coming for that starting spot and it’s only a matter of time before he is starting the first game of many to come in his career.