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3 Reasons to Be Psyched About LaMelo Ball as a Charlotte Hornet

By Josh Flenniken

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks looks on during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks looks on during the round 9 NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on November 30, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /
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Charlotte Hornets, LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images) /

Lamelo is already a special player when it comes to finding easy shots for his teammates

It’s not every day you find a player who takes as much pride in a great pass as he does a highlight dunk or a dagger 3. Despite his rare level of celebrity coming into the league, Ball is one of those guys. While media and draft experts are somewhat divided on him as a prospect, everyone agrees that he has uncommon court vision and passing ability. His height and long arms allow him to fire the ball on a string at angles the average point guard couldn’t imagine.

But there’s more to playmaking than passing alone.

Ball also projects to be one of the best rebounders in this draft class from the guard position, which will be a boon to a Hornets team that finished in the bottom third of the league in most rebounding metrics.

You might be wondering what rebounding has to do with playmaking. For a Hornets team that also finished dead-last in the league in pace, having a player that can go up for a rebound, keep his eyes downcourt, and sling it to monstrous leapers like Malik Monk and Miles Bridges in stride would do wonders for creating easy offense.

He’s elite in a half court setting as well, with smooth ball-handling, gravity toward the rim as an ambidextrous finisher, and a knack for getting floor-spacers open and placing the ball squarely in their shooting pockets. With two other sweet-shooting guards who are comfortable playing off-ball (no pun intended) in Devonte Graham and Terry Rozier, it’s even possible all 3 could share the court at times.

He regularly makes flashy highlight passes as well, but with a surprising sense of security—his 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio for Illawara last season would have put him among the ranks of court generals Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo had he produced those stats in the NBA.

Lamelo’s outstanding playmaking comes with a major caveat: his shot selection is—shall we say—a little heroic at times. The same hyper-confidence that produced the disrespectful shots that put him on the map as a youngster for Chino Hills led to inefficient numbers for his pro teams when they inevitably didn’t fall. With proper coaching and the right mindset (or with a vastly improved shooting stroke), hopefully this issue can be ironed out in time.

Either way, the young Hornets desperately needed a sense of direction and security on the offensive end last season. Ball has the potential to provide that and more.