NBA Draft 2017: 5 best fits for Lonzo Ball

Lonzo Ball is a great prospect with a few interesting NBA Draft fits. Here are our favorites.

The philosophy that NBA teams should use their draft picks to select the best player available with little regard for fit and figure things out later has increasingly become a growing norm, at least in public discussions of the draft. It’s a theory that seemingly maximizes the value of assets, but in reality, can damage both the process of roster construction and individual player development.

The Philadelphia 76ers are a good example. In two straight drafts, the Sixers selected a center with a top three pick after trading for Nerlens Noel in 2013. Drafting Joel Embiid in 2014 was a logical choice given his potential talent, Noel’s injury concerns and the need to have both a starter and a backup on any given roster, but taking Jahlil Okafor in 2015 seems inexcusable, talent evaluation aside.

Having three centers on the roster ultimately forced Philadelphia’s front office to move one of them in exchange for a pretty mediocre return. The overabundance of best players available at the same position devalued some of those assets in the eyes of other franchises as those opposing teams knew a trade had to be made.

The second problem, individual player development, is a bit harder to quantify, but also makes sense in theory. For one, playing time is crucial to improving a player’s skill set and if there are other players keeping a prospect off the floor, that time isn’t there. The other, more important problem, though, is that in certain situations the supposed best player available might get asked to do things beyond his ability, hurting a team’s chances to maximize his strengths.

That seems like the biggest potential problem facing Lonzo Ball, the No. 3 prospect on The Step Back’s draft big board. Ball is an incredibly talented prospect whose high basketball IQ makes him an elite passer and off ball cutter. The 19-year old also has his flaws and those imperfections — namely, his potential struggles shooting off the dribble and creating offense for himself — could hinder his development as a lead guard in the NBA.

All of that begs the question, where would the former UCLA Bruins point guard be at his best?

5. Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors do not own a first round pick and the likelihood that Ball will find his way to the Bay Area is remote at best, but examining how well he would fit there is important because it highlights the strengths of his game, which gives us a better understanding of who he is as a player. Plus, given the fact that Ball is likely to be a top three pick on draft night, there aren’t exactly five likely fits for him.

The Warriors offensive scheme — not the players in it, necessarily — would minimize Ball’s weaknesses and maximize his strengths. It’s probably not a surprise, then, that UCLA head coach Steve Alford adopted principles from Golden State’s system for the Bruins this season. The Warriors finish a lower percentage of their possessions with the pick-and-roll ball-handler than anyone in the league. That’s good because Ball struggles to create his own offense out of those ball screens.

The Warriors do use plenty of off ball cuts to create easy baskets, though, and that’s an area where Ball shines, often using his high basketball IQ to direct traffic and attack the rim against sleeping defenders. Shooting is also obviously important to the scheme and for as many concerns as there are about Ball’s form, he stroked 41.2 percent of his 3-point attempts this season.