Report: Lonzo Ball may only work out for the Los Angeles Lakers
By John Buhler
Former UCLA Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball will definitely work out for the Los Angeles Lakers, but will that be the only NBA team he will do that for?
Tuesday night was a massively important night for the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only did they defy the odds by keeping their first-round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, but they stayed at No. 2 overall. The player already projected to go to Los Angeles is former UCLA Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball.
Ball played his one year of college ball in the Pac-12 for the Bruins, helping lead Steve Alford’s team to the Sweet 16 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Though Ball projects as a point guard of the Jason Kidd prototype, there are some concerns about this young ball-handler entering the NBA Draft.
While questionable lateral quickness, defensive acumen, a highly unorthodox jump shoot and a larger than life father could all inevitably get in the way for Ball, perhaps the biggest issue Ball and his camp will face is how they handle the draft process.
Ball and his camp have made it abundantly clear that they would prefer to play for the Lakers. It’s difficult to see Ball falling out of the top three or top four in any capacity. However, he may only choose to workout for the Lakers pre-draft. Is this going to be a problem?
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Ball is “undecided” if he will work out for any other teams at the top of the lottery besides the Lakers. A member of Ball’s camp told Shelburne, “We will make that decision closer to June” and that Los Angeles is their preferred destination by a wide margin.
Ball working out for the Lakers is obvious, but not working out for the Boston Celtics is not the way to go. Boston has the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. The Celtics earned that pick by virtue of a pick swap with the Brooklyn Nets from the Kevin Garnett trade.
Because Boston is pragmatic in how it conducts basketball business, expect the franchise to want more than just Washington Huskies point guard Markelle Fultz to work out for them. Ball and other top-tier prospects like Kansas Jayhawks forward Josh Jackson and Kentucky Wildcats point guard De’Aaron Fox could conceivably work out for the Celtics.
Add in that the Philadelphia 76ers, the Phoenix Suns and the Sacramento Kings could all use a point guard in some capacity, it would be less than advantageous for Ball to not at least be open to working out for at least one other team picking in the top-five not named the Lakers.
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While we all should expect Ball to go No. 2 to the Lakers, putting all of his eggs in one basket to play basketball for the Lakers may not be the right approach for Ball to begin his promising NBA career.