http://www.blazersedge.com/2017/5/1...-lottery-picks-lavar-ball-lonzo-trail-blazers Interesting hypothetical. I honestly am not sure what I would do. I think the guy is a train wreck waiting to happen, but he does have talent and I could totally see him falling in the draft.
Based on the scenario spelled out in the post, I think that if Ball fell to 8 and the Blazers/Knicks had an unofficial trade on the table, the Knicks would simply draft Ball themselves and cancel the deal. However, if the Blazers actually had the 8 pick and Ball fell to them, then yes, I'd want to draft him.
He won't fall to #8. We should trade Lillard to the Lakers for #2 so we'll be in position to select Ball.
I am a WAY bigger De'arron Fox fan. I could see him falling to 5 if for some reason the lakers didnt take him
I will be interested to see what happens if L@kers do pass on Ball. Seems like he is sending out Kobi-like messages that he doesn't want to play anywhere else. I guess that is great if the L@kers want you, but risky otherwise. Any team that trades for #2 to take him would risk losing him back to the L@kers as a FA.
Ball doesn't defend all that well and gets shut down by athletic defenders. I think there are a few athletic defenders in the NBA--just not on the Blazers.
Yeah, I'm hoping the Lakers do select him at #2 and he's a spectacular bust. His passing ability and athleticism are great, but his shot needs to be completely retooled, he doesn't currently have an NBA body and he can't play a lick of defense so the bust potential is real.
He shot 41% from 3 in college. Higher than Dame, actually, so why does it need retooled? Height and weight are equal to Shawn Livingston. Seven pounds lighter than Alan Crabbe out of college. You're either out of touch, a hater, or making shit up
I'm going to have to re-read Dante's Inferno to find out just what level of purgatory you will fall into for suggesting such a thing without use of green font.
Ball will be a solid NBA player. Not sure he will be great but he has a lot going for him. Great size for a PG, great vision, great passing, plays hard, always focused. and can score. Can he take over games like he did occasionally in college? I doubt it, but none the less the kid can play.
I saw a quick Sports Science thing on ESPN about Ball's shot. He doesn't have your typical shooting form, but they calculated that he still gets his shot off faster than the average NBA player and almost as fast as Klay Thompson.
I would be concerned about him getting hit shot off quickly against nba players, as college kids isn't the same as against NBA players.
That doesnt make sense. Shooting the ball is shooting the ball. He's going to shoot slower in the NBA? His release/shot time is very similiar to Klay Thompson, so I think he'll be OK. He may have a harder time getting an open shot, but his timing/shot wont change.
Based on other @Minstrel posts in other threads, the concern is the exceptionally low release point making the shot highly susceptible to being blocked by NBA athletes.
I wasn't necessarily talking about how fast his shot is, but his shot form and the speed of it against NBA players. Plus, it's a case of big fish, small pond. Faster, stronger and taller defenders will make his unorthodox shot harder for him to take advantage of players. Look at Aminu's shot, his form is atrocious. And he's a subpar shooter too. I'm not saying he'll be a bust, but I think a lot of his reputation has to do with his dad
Shooting the ball is NOT just "shooting the ball". Maybe shooting free throws is the same at every level, but shooting from the field is definitely not. An NBA player would be able to shoot a higher percentage (both at the rim and elsewhere) playing against middle schoolers than he would in the NBA. Why is that? It's obvious that NBA defenders are taller, longer, faster, and stronger than middle schoolers... and they are taller, longer, faster, and stronger than college players, too (albeit to a lesser extent). Ball's unorthordox shot MIGHT work in the NBA, just like it worked in college... but the odds aren't with him that he'll be unaffected.
