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OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: LaMelo Ball

By Tamberlyn Richardson

OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks and RJ Hampton of the Breakers. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
OKC Thunder draft prospect profile: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks and RJ Hampton of the Breakers. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /
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OKC Thunder Draft: LaMelo Ball, right, attends the game between the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The most famous name in the 2020 draft class is LaMelo Ball but popularity isn’t a reason for the OKC Thunder to trade up for him.

The 2020 NBA draft class is chock full of point guards with LaMelo Ball the most infamous name in the group. While the might not be the top guard drafted in the class he still won’t be available with the OKC Thunder select at 25. The question is how good Ball can be and whether Sam Presti should consider trading up to add him to the rebuilding Thunder.

The youngest of the Ball brothers, LaMelo elected to take an alternative path in his last year prior to the NBA Draft electing to play in the NBL for the Illawarra Hawks.

LaMelo Ball draft prospect preview:

Diving into his top line specifics notes his height is above average for a guard and his stat line this past season with the Hawks showcased his overall skill set.

Specifics:

  • Height: 6’7″
  • Weight: 190 pounds
  • Wingspan: 6’10”
  • Position:  point guard
  • Birthdate/Age: August 22, 2001, 19.2 years
  • College: skipped NCAA to play in Australia in NBL
  • Stat line: 17 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 1.6 steals
  • Home Town: Chino Hills, California
Per Game Table
Season Team G MP FGA FG% 3PA 3P% 2PA 2P% FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL TOV PTS
2019-20 Illawarra 12 31.3 16.7 .375 6.7 .250 10.0 .458 3.9 .723 1.9 5.7 7.6 6.8 1.6 2.5 17.0

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/9/2020.

LaMelo only played in 12 of 28 games for the Illawarra Hawks. A bone bruise in his foot stopped the youngsters season short but not before he delivered back-to-back triple-doubles. Ball went on to win the NBL Rookie of the Year

Current Ranking

LaMelo is predominantly listed in the top three typically picked to go second which would be the Golden State Warriors.  That said, there are whispers the Warriors like Anthony Edwards (although I think they’d prefer James Wiseman) or that they are willing to trade down in the draft.

More importantly, LaMelo appears to be dropping down the ladder as Duncan Smith of Hoops Habit details. Turns out Ball’s potential drafting teams haven’t been impressed by his interview. Can’t say we’re that shocked given we had a similar read off the youngster from his Combine zoom media interview.

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