LaMelo Ball was recently seen in the gym, apparently working on his midrange shot. If that eventually bears fruit, the league should take notice because it would make the Charlotte Hornets star a much more dangerous offensive player.
While Ball has already displayed a deep bag in his first years in the league, he still has plenty of room for improvement in terms of efficiency.
The former All-Star has never shot better than 43.3 percent from the field in a season, which happened to be his rookie year. In addition, he registered his worst field-goal percentage in this campaign, converting just 40.5 percent of his attempts.
A huge reason for that is Ball's over-reliance on the 3-point shot. To wit, more than half of all of his tries from the field this year came from long distance, and he sank just 33.9 percent of them. That was also his career low.
Melo was at his most efficient when attacking the basket, as he hit 60.1 percent of his attempts at the rim. However, he didn't get to try such shots, likely because of the injuries he has had to deal with and the fact that he attracted a lot of the defense's attention because of a weak supporting cast. It's worth noting that the team had to deal with several players taking turns on the injury list and fielding unproven two-way guys.
Becoming a midrange master should be next on LaMelo Ball's to-do list
So, watching Ball aim to improve his midrange prowess should give the Hornets organization and its fans more reason to be optimistic about the 2025-26 campaign. Adding a more efficient jump shot (he shot a total of 35 attempts and connected on 37.1 percent from that area this season) to his arsenal would give him another tool to use against opponents and help open up the floor for his teammates.
The Hornets floor general just has to look at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to realize how advantageous it would be to weaponize the shot that had previously been outlawed by analytics. The reigning Finals MVP has been able to keep his defenders on their toes night in and night out because he can light it up from anywhere on the floor. It also helps that he has mastered the art of drawing fouls, another skill Ball should try to include in his bag.
It remains to be seen if the 2021 Rookie of the Year has what it takes to become a midrange wizard. If he manages to do so, we can expect him to become more adept at creating shots for himself and his teammates. Not only will that take his game to the next level, but it could also help push Charlotte up from the bottom of the East, especially with the conference potentially being wide open next season.