Charlotte Hornets: The next steps in LaMelo Ball’s development

Charlotte Hornets

LaMelo Ball surprised a lot of fans and critics with his immediate impact on the Charlotte Hornets this season. The Hornets went from being a team the previous season with no shot at the playoffs to adding Ball and Gordon Hayward and competing all season for a playoff spot. The Hornets were even as high as the fourth seed during the regular season in the Eastern Conference, which illustrates the type of impact Hayward and Ball both had this season.

With Ball immediately producing in his rookie season, that only leads to higher expectations for his second season. Ball still being quite young at 19 years old; the room for development both mentally and physically has a very high ceiling.

With that in mind, what areas of Ball’s game should be focused on this off-season?

Improving strength and physicality can help with finishing

Ball has a slight frame weighing about 180 pounds at 6’6’’ inches. Ball could use extra upper body and lower body strength to help in multiple facets of his game. By adding weight, his ability to finish through contact can improve. Ball sometimes shies away from contact around the rim due to his slight frame. Putting on muscle could lead to higher percentages when finishing around the rim on top of more free throw opportunities. Ball’s success rate around the rim this past season was 57%, which ranks in the 39th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass and Jacob Rude of the Lonzo Wire. Improved lower body strength could also aid in his ability to finish at the basket and have more explosion at the rim. Instead of being dependent on floaters and difficult switch-hand layups, Ball could finish at the rim with more power moves with added verticality.

Improving as an on-ball defender through added strength and discipline

Ball has shown an unbelievable ability to anticipate in passing lanes when playing off the ball. His overall vision on both sides of the floor is quite impressive, especially for someone who just finished their rookie season. However, Ball needs a lot of work defending the basketball on and off the ball. He sometimes plays defense standing up, which results in blow-byes and easy paths to the rim. More discipline and understanding of defensive positioning can help with this aspect of his game.

Ball also gives drivers angles to the basket, which hurts his ability to recover and contest at the rim. This becomes an even bigger problem when drivers get their shoulders past him and have a strength advantage. Physical drivers can then use their strength to move Ball out of the way when driving to the basket by either lowering their shoulder or using physical hop steps into his body to move him off of his spot.

Lastly, Ball must gain weight to help prevent mismatches against bigger opponents. When a big man gets a switch, they can duck in and easily hold position against him.

Continuous improvement on his outside shot

If Ball wants to expand his offensive repertoire and become even more of a threat, his jumper must continue to get better. Coming into the league, people were skeptical about his release mechanically; his atrocious shooting numbers in Australia raised concerns as well.

While in Australia, Ball shot 25 percent from the three-point line on an average of seven attempts per game, according to Basketball-Reference. However, Ball exceeded expectations from the three-point line and shot 35 percent on five attempts per game, according to Basketball-Reference in his first season in Charlotte. Ball must continue to expand his shooting if he wants to reach a new level as a scorer. Teams are still going under screens and daring him to shoot. If Ball continues to advance this part of his game, his opportunities as a scorer and a playmaker will open up greatly.