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Lonzo Ball is making a fresh start. Four seasons after he was picked second overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, the point guard is looking to begin a new chapter in his NBA career.
The New Orleans Pelicans traded Lonzo Ball to the Chicago Bulls in the 2021 offseason. The player split his four-year NBA career by spending his initial two years with the team that drafted him, the LA Lakers. He then spent an equal amount of time with the Pelicans.
The Chicago Bulls have made a series of impressive moves this year in an attempt to become playoff contenders for the first time since 2017.
The Bulls added center Nikola Vucevic via a trade with Orlando in March 2021. They then added DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and Ball in the recent offseason. With Zach LaVine at the center of their rebuilding plan, the team hope to find success sooner rather than later.
Lonzo Ball is expected to be an integral cog in the Chicago Bulls' blueprint for success. Over the last decade, they have gone through a number of players in the point guard position, including the brilliant Derrick Rose, the temperamental Rajon Rondo, Kirk Hinrich, Kris Dunn, Tomas Satoransky and Coby White.
However, the Bulls finally seem to have a good old-fashioned point guard in Lonzo Ball. He can push the ball up the floor and create scoring opportunities for the talented scorers around him.
Lonzo Ball had a chequered start to his NBA career
It is hard to forget Lonzo Ball's entry into the NBA. Of course, he was a talented player, the eldest of three brothers who were making headlines with their basketball talent.
However, it was their father, LaVar Ball, who usurped the spotlight with his outrageous claims ahead of Lonzo Ball's entry into the NBA. LaVar claimed that his son could beat Michael Jordan one-on-one and that he was better than Steph Curry and LeBron James.
LaVar's atrocious comments made Lonzo Ball a walking target as he entered the NBA.
Lonzo Ball himself didn't do much to improve his standing. He shot woefully in his first two seasons in the league. He went 36.0% from the field and 30.5% from downtown in year one with the Lakers before recording 40.6% and 32.9% correspondingly in year two.
Ball played only a little over half the scheduled games in both his first two seasons, with injuries keeping him below 55 games in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns.
The two years at New Orleans
Although he had a few memorable moments as a Laker, Lonzo Ball largely disappointed during his stay at the Purple and Gold franchise.
While his rebounding (6.2 rpg) and assists averages (6.4 apg) were good in his first two years, the fact that he only averaged 10.0 ppg while shooting a dismal 38.0% overall from the field made him entirely dispensable.
And so, when Anthony Davis became a serious acquisition target for the Lakers, the franchise packaged him in the deal that brought AD to LA in 2019. They sent Ball and Brandon Ingram to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Lonzo Ball improved in New Orleans. He shot a career-best 37.8% from downtown in his fourth NBA season, which is much better than the 30.5% he shot from long range in his rookie season.
His free-throw efficiency also improved drastically from 45% in year one to 78% in year four. His scoring average also increased to a career-best 14.6 ppg last year with New Orleans. However, he was sent packing by the franchise at the end of their 2020-21 campaign.
It's hard to explain why Lonzo got traded by the Pelicans. However, longtime Chicago Bulls' beat writer Sam Smith provided a possible perspective on the trade in a recent piece.
Smith wrote of the Pelicans' decision to part ways with Lonzo Ball:
“It's difficult to compare franchises between markets even with the NBA's generous TV contract that makes everyone profitable. But there's not as many people or profits in New Orleans as Chicago, and the Pelicans paid All-Star Brandon Ingram and have pretty much declared their future around Zion Williamson. Whether that works considering his injury history is another story. They're too far down Zion way to turn back. So they turned their backs on Lonzo.”
A new beginning in Chicago for Lonzo Ball
Perhaps jilted by the ignominy of the New Orleans trade and eager to deliver on the initial excitement around his game, Lonzo Ball has been a revelation in his first few preseason games with Chicago.
In the Bulls' opening game against Cleveland last week, Ball posted an all-round stat line of eight points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. His scoring didn't exactly merit excessive adulation or reason for exaggerated applause, but as Smith noted:
“Ball was an as advertised revelation Tuesday the way he had his head up peering downcourt as soon as he grasped the basketball, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan sprinting ahead, the ball moving around and going up so quickly Mike D'Antoni would have been jealous. Perhaps even Red Auerbach.”
Next came the game against his former team, the Pelicans, and Lonzo Ball played with a vengeance. He scored 19 points in the matchup. More interestingly, he made five of six splashes from long range, going by seven-of-nine from the field.
The Bulls won the contest by 36 points, the same margin with which they beat the Cavaliers in their opening preseason contest.
In their most recent contest, played on Sunday night, the Bulls edged the Cavaliers by one point (102-101). Lonzo Ball put in another all-round display, recording 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks.
Critics would sit back and withhold praise for a variety of reasons. They would say this is just the preseason. It is only three games and, therefore, just a very small sample size. They could also say the Cavaliers aren't necessarily brimming with talent, while the Pelicans were without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
Still, there must be reason to believe in Lonzo Ball's turnaround. He has had many things not go his way since he came into the league.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step. Lonzo Ball has taken at least a few good steps in what is still a long journey ahead of him.
Also Read: Who is Lonzo Ball’s girlfriend, Ally Rossel?
Guess the Lakers players!
