Atlanta Hawks NBA Draft Prospect Profile: LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball has received tons of attention due to both his older brother Lonzo Ball and his father LaVar Ball, however, LaMelo is a star in his own right.

Today we’ll take a look at another Atlanta Hawks Draft prospect, this time our focus is on LaMelo Ball. The Hawks have the fourth-best odds in this year’s draft and should certainly be considering taking Ball if he’s still on the board.

LaMelo Ball is an 18 year old point guard from Chino Hills, California. He played professional basketball this season for the Illawarra Hawks in the Australian National Basketball League due to being deemed ineligible by the NCAA.

If the Atlanta Hawks end up with the fourth pick in the draft or find themselves jumping even higher, LaMelo is certainly a player the Atlanta Hawks could find themselves drafting this off-season. It isn’t likely that Ball falls outside of the top five, so if the Hawks want to take him they’d better hope their pick doesn’t either.

LaMelo Ball was ranked 21 in ESPN’s top 100 out of high school and he has certainly proved to be worthy of a higher ranking after just one season in Australia. As mentioned, LaMelo played this season with the Illawarra Hawks where he played in just 12 games before sitting out the rest of the season after experiencing a bone bruise.

In his 12 games with the Hawks LaMelo looked incredible. He excelled against professionals of all ages and averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. While his raw numbers were super impressive for an 18-year-old playing against men, his shooting percentages were certainly less than impressive.

LaMelo Ball shot just 37.5 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from three and 72.3 percent from the free-throw line. The shooting numbers by LaMelo aren’t encouraging, especially considering his unorthodox shooting form, however, he certainly doesn’t lack confidence in shooting the ball.

Ball also has all the tools to be an elite perimeter defender. We’ve seen his older brother Lonzo become one of the best guard defenders in the entire NBA and LaMelo is similar in size and has all the same physical tools to where he could easily boast a comparable defensive impact.

Another concern that many NBA teams have about taking LaMelo Ball is the drama that often surrounds him and his family. His father LaVar is often outspoken and won’t shy away from speaking his mind if he doesn’t like the way things are going.

The fact that LaMelo is so talented and yet so raw will likely warrant him a top-three draft selection which, if the Hawks jump up a spot or two, could be good for Atlanta.

LaMelo Ball would be an exciting combination with Trae Young in the backcourt and could definitely be a talented duo for the Hawks for years to come. If Ball is able to lock-in defensively and if he can play both on and off the ball on offense, Trae and LaMelo would have this Hawks offense running the floor and shooting three’s at a high clip.

I mean, LaMelo Ball already played for the Illawarra Hawks this season so why not just jump on over to the Atlanta Hawks.