The Charlotte Hornets need LaMelo Ball on the floor, and the various pieces of evidence prove as much. However, they also need the star to shoot more efficiently from the field, as his 40.5 percent field-goal percentage this season and the fact that he has just one game this season where he sank more than half of his field-goal attempts leave a lot to be desired.
It appears to be a catch-22 situation for the Hornets because it's clear that they are in a different class when Ball is available. Before their loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday, the team had an offensive rating of 123.7 with him on the floor and a mere 112.5 when he was off it. That's a +11.2 swing. While there is not much variance in the assist percentage when the star is on and off the floor, the key difference is that the Hornets are more efficient from the field and take better care of the ball when he facilitates the offense.
So, it's kind of paradoxical that the Hornets look stronger on offense with Ball leading the way when he has hardly had an efficient scoring night this season. The only night he breached the 50.0-percent mark was when he put a 38-point triple-double in their third game of the campaign. In his previous three contests, he has shot 36.8 percent or worse.
LaMelo Ball will be a key driver of Hornets' rise in the standings
Perhaps we can chalk up Ball's far-from-stellar field-goal percentage to his recent injury. However, it's tough to establish a case for that argument when he has never really been able to be an efficient scorer for a prolonged stretch in his NBA career so far. And now that he is in his sixth year, it's time for him to address the elephant in the room to put his team in the best position to succeed.
Charlotte's road loss to the Raptors was a perfect example of the organization's predicament stemming from Ball's Jekyll-and-Hyde performance. The visiting squad trimming the deficit and even briefly taking a lead late in the fourth quarter coincided with the point guard being on the court. Unfortunately, the Hornets couldn't nab the win, no thanks to his 0-4 shooting in the final period and Charles Lee's questionable decisions in the clutch.
Think about it for a moment, though. What if Ball had hit some of those attempts? Or what if he didn't finish the evening with a 6-19 shooting clip and consequently registered a higher plus/minus than +6? Maybe the Hornets wouldn't have fallen into a bigger deficit whenever he had to sit on the bench, especially since he was still on a minutes restriction.
Ball isn't solely to blame for Charlotte's current 4-10 standing, which ranks 12th in the Eastern Conference. But it would certainly have more favorable odds of notching more wins if he were able to be a more efficient bucket-getter.