LaMelo Ball Hornets
Photo: Steve Reed/Associated Press

Although LaMelo Ball didn’t go Number 1 in the 2020 NBA Draft, he certainly had the most attention out of all the draftees. And it was to no surprise as his brother, Lonzo, is in the league, his dad is Lavar Ball and he was on the ‘Ball In The Family’ TV show for 6 seasons. Not to mention how he’s the youngest player ever to get a shoe deal, which was of course with Big Baller Brand. With Melo getting so much attention from such a young age, some fans will obviously have high expectations for him. But then on the other side of the spectrum, I’ve seen fans already saying Melo will be a bust when he hasn’t even had a regular-season game yet. So is there any truth to the claim that Melo will be a bust?

Well the truth is, it’s impossible to say how good Melo will be. Probably not the answer you were wanting to hear as you probably wanted something definitive, but there is no way of telling yet. However, we can predict what he’ll be like from what we’ve already seen.

Over the 4 preseason games he played in, he averaged 8.5 points, 5 rebounds and almost 4 assists. Not super impressive stats but for just under 22 minutes a game, it’s not too bad. His highlights though have all come from flashy passes, which we were expecting to see with Melo. He plays fun and when it works out, it’s great to watch and can raise team morale a lot. But flashy passes don’t win games and when done poorly, the rest of his team will really get onto him.

One of Melo’s biggest strengths is his height as a point guard. He stands at 6’8 and is the tallest point guard in the league, other than Ben Simmons. His height gives him great vision and makes him a great passer when he’s actually looking where he’s passing and it’s made him a better defender too. He can guard a lot more positions because of his height but he’s still very quick and can keep up with the shorter guards.

From what I’ve seen so far, I would be very surprised if he was a complete bust and never made the all-star team, for example. I think he has far more potential than Lonzo if he applies himself correctly and really puts the work in, but, he could also flop quite hard this season. Only time will tell how good he really is.