Ball has played in only 216 of 367 possible games for the Hornets since entering the league, or just 58% of possible games. I don't want any max player who is injured that often. Ball is also a textbook "empty stats" player. Despite looking good on paper and having some decent talent around him, his teams regularly have losing records -- 94-122 even in games when he is on the court. He's a bad defensive player who is not all that efficient and takes far too many bad shots. He's taking over 25 shots per game this season on just 54% true shooting. I can see how he seems like a good fit at a glance, but the minute you dig a little deeper it kinda starts to fall apart. I don't want him. I'd hold out for a better--or at very least healthier--player to become available, like Edwards, Booker, Haliburton, Maxey, etc.
My conspiracy theory is that the NBA promised the Hornets a top 2 pick in this upcoming draft to get a chance at Flagg after they traded away their young, up and coming big man in Mark Williams to the Lakers lol. If this comes into fruition, the Hornets might trade Lamelo to the highest bidder like us. Here's hoping
Man that would be a dream. LaMelo is an absolute stud and super entertaining. He can have a Steve Nash like effect on this Rockets squad. Id give up anyone as long as we can keep Amen and Goon.
I would not want LaMelo if he were free. The kid is the opposite of Lonzo. His brother is a dog on defense and has been a quiet leader for years. LaMelo is just a fake dude. I won’t go into why I don’t like him but he’s the opposite of a winner.
You really just created a lineup with no Shooting Guard - and thought it was a good idea So Amen playing SG with no type of shot outside 10ft?
LaMelo or Trae would at least make the team fun to watch. Gundy style basketball is such a drag to watch.
He's clearly talented but very lazy on defense and chucks away on offense. Injury prone as well. Maybe he would change is ways with much more competent teammates and a coach who won't put up with BS. High risk/high reward that would alter the franchise significantly for better or worse.
I do wonder if Coach could whip' 'em into shape, but the career missed games (much like his bro) worries me. When he's on he's on though. On the flip side, jacking up those horrible contested 3s. We got enough chuckers lol
LaMelo is definitely not an empty stats player. Kind of the opposite - he's a ridiculously good offensive player who takes an extra 4-5 FGA per game because of his team situation, which brings down his surface level efficiency. The impact metrics say he's underrated by his stats. LaMelo: - 5th best offensive player in the NBA by EPM - 4th in the NBA in offensive rating on/off, among starters. +11. Behind only Jokic, Shai, and Curry. - +10 on/off swing in halfcourt pts/play (where HOU is currently 26th) He's got flaws for sure (primarily the health concerns and caring about defense on a bad team), but that's why he's potentially available. He's 6'7; he's not Trae Young on defense. He's under contract for ~22-23% of the cap until 2029. IMO he's about 10x more likely to be available via trade in the next couple years than Edwards, Haliburton, or Maxey. And probably 2-3x more likely than Booker, who also isn't ideal from an age/contract perspective. LaMelo is one of the 15-20 best offensive engines in the NBA without question, and he's 23. The Rockets will not have a good halfcourt offense without having one. If it's not LaMelo, it's gotta be somebody from that group. And guess what, they're going to be flawed.
Yea that scares me too. I’d avoid him for these reasons. He’s the NBA version of the attractive girls with multiple red flags that dudes think they can fix and get burned.
I can believe he's a very good offensive player, but his defense is so terrible that he's a tremendous liability on that end, which IMO is one of the reasons he can't carry his teams--which yes, are bad, but not completely devoid of talent--to a winning record. In any case, none of the advanced stats address my biggest concern, which is his injury history and lack of availability in games. Even with his defensive problems, I'd still be onboard with trading for him if he played in most of his team's games instead of barely over half.
I would love to have LaMelo. He's a true PG at 6'7. I believe Ime would be able to coach him up on defense and utilize his size. He's a good enough scorer and shooter than you can play him off ball at times with Amen or Fred. Also a top 5 passer in the league and just did this last night:
