LA Lakers Rumors: Can Lonzo Ball Still Be NBA Rookie Of The Year?
LA Lakers rumors about the current roster include trade chatter about players like Julius Randle, but Lonzo Ball continues to be a big piece of news for the team. Though he had a rough beginning to his rookie campaign with the Lakers, Ball is starting to improve on the court, creating an interesting bit of excitement among fans of the team. Could Ball improve enough to be named NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2017-18 season?
Through 19 games this season, Lonzo Ball has averages of 9.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He is the starting point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and has been making a lot of highlights. The problem, though, is that he has also been making the highlights of a lot of other players and has been inconsistent with his shooting. Ball has a field goal percentage of just 31.5, a three-point percentage of just 25.0, and a free throw percentage of only 42.9 this year.
To his credit, Lonzo Ball now has three triple-doubles on the season, including one against the Denver Nuggets on November 19 when he had 11 points, 11 assists, and 16 rebounds. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the LA Lakers and Ball took on the Sacramento Kings and rookie point guard De’Aaron Fox last week (November 22). Fox played just 23 minutes, posting 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. He bested Ball and the Lakers in his first opportunity since getting drafted from the University of Kentucky.
The #LakeShow overcoming a 19-point deficit to get past the Bulls at home is our @budweiserusa Moment of the Week. pic.twitter.com/FrsY4UOvyv
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 25, 2017
In a new report by Drew Packham for NBA.com, he ranks the top rookies in the league as of Week 6, taking into account who has improved the most and who has made the biggest impact for their teams already. Packham doesn’t feel that Lonzo Ball has done enough with the LA Lakers yet, keeping him outside of the top five rankings so far. His top five NBA rookies are John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks, Lauri Markkanen of the Chicago Bulls, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Kyle Kuzma of the LA Lakers, and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.
There are quite a few NBA rookies playing very well this season and Lonzo Ball may not even be the best rookie on his own team (yet). The LA Lakers have been receiving a surprisingly impressive output from rookie power forward Kyle Kuzma, who is averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Then there is Ben Simmons, who is averaging 18.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for the Philadelphia 76ers and Jayson Tatum, who is averaging 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Boston Celtics.
For Lonzo Ball to have a serious shot at winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, he will need to continue improving and start putting together some very memorable stat lines. There is a lot of the season left to get better and as the starting point guard for a team with very little depth, Ball should continue to see heavy minutes. As long as he doesn’t get distracted by the inevitable LA Lakers rumors as the trade deadline approaches later this year, maybe he can get back into the race and get some serious attention from the voters.
Next up for Lonzo Ball and the LA Lakers is a game on November 27 against the LA Clippers.
[Featured Image by Christian Petersen/Getty Image]
