Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball is set to begin his second campaign in the league that has plenty of scrutiny on him following the arrival of The LeBron James that has taken that to the next level.
This has shifted the focus on how he will fit next to James on the floor given that he has shown to be a pass-first type point guard while having issues scoring effectively. According to a recent piece with Sports Illustrated, an anonymous NBA scout has stated that he believes that Ball will have some trouble fitting on the floor next to the four-time league MVP because of his lack of consistency scoring.
“Lonzo will be a tricky fit next to LeBron. He’s almost the anti-Kyrie Irving because he’s not a great individual scorer and he’s wired so much to pass the ball. During the regular season, I think you can make the LeBron/Lonzo pairing work, but when it comes to the playoffs, Lonzo will need to shoot much better to avoid getting exposed.”
This an issue that could arise given that Ball had struggled mightily with his shooting in his rookie campaign averaging 10.2 points on 36.0 percent shooting from the floor and 30.5 percent from 3-point range. Much of this had been with his shooting ability as an individual scoring finding his own shot while his inefficiency shooting from various spots of the floor, especially outside of the paint were a glaring problem.
Meanwhile, Irving had excelled during his three years next to James because of his ability to find his own shot while being a reliable scoring playing off him. That said, Ball has a chance to expand his game as this offseason he had made some adjustments to his shooting motion in order to help him become more efficient.
Ultimately, only time will tell if he can work alongside James effectively for the betterment of the team long-term.
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