The curious case of Lonzo Ball was the talk of the town for over a year and a half before he was traded in a mega deal between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans to bring Anthony Davis to the ‘Purple and Gold’ franchise.
Entering into the NBA as a number 2 draft pick, and amidst a lot of unwarranted buzz created by his father, Lavar Ball, Lonzo, during his rookie season, did not appear to be anything like he used to be during his college basketball days.
During the two seasons that he spent in Hollywood, the three-pointer shot was off, there was barely any scoring and while his passes were on-point, his spot as a ball-distributing point guard was somewhere overshadowed by LeBron James.
Even after the trade to the Pelicans, Ball wasn’t having the best of times on the court. Unlike Brandon Ingram, who was moved along with Ball and Josh Hart in the Davis trade, Ball was unable to propel himself to the next level in the first half of the regular season.
However, with the debut of a massive 6’6’’ beast of a man in Zion Williamson on January 22nd, Ball has looked like a well-engineered version of himself.
According to ESPN, in the last 10 games, Lonzo is shooting at a 45.2 rate of conversion from beyond the arc, scoring 14.2 points per game dropping 8.1 dimes per game and grabbing approximately two steals too.
SB Nation has on the other hand found out that ahead of their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, the Pelicans’ are plus 7.3 in a 336-minute sample size when both Ball and Williamson are on the court at the same time. Conversely, Ball’s efficiency drops to a minus 3 in a 1,337 minute-sample size without Zion. Per 100 possessions, the Pelicans are 14.3 points better when the duo is out there together.
“It’s great playing with a guy like that,” Williamson said recently. “I can make cuts off the ball and sometimes break the play, but I know he’s going to see me and find me. I think it definitely opens up the game a lot for me.”
“Obviously he is a freak athlete but he’s also very skillful,” Ball told reporters of Williamson. “You can give it to him on the break as well as post-ups, short rolls. He can score in a lot of different ways and that’s why he’s so hard to stop.”
Zion has made his presence felt in the league from the jump. Not only is he putting up monster numbers for himself, he is also helping his squad grow as basketball players and most importantly compete against some of the more difficult opponents out there. Ever since his first game in January, the Pelicans are 9-9 despite being in one of the most testing schedules at present.
Maybe Zion is the key to a bright future of the Pelicans organisation, somebody who could do what Davis was never able to do, regardless of his individual prowess. With a young leader in Zion and with a young core of teammates who can follow, this could be the team to reckon with, if not today then in a couple of years.
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