Lonzo Ball might be traded by the Lakers to the Pelicans or Suns for Anthony Davis and that trade could work for Lonzo, the Lakers, and the Pelicans or Suns and here’s why. Twitter @MJ2KALLDAY #NBA #Lonzo #Lakers
As much as I see the potential in Lonzo Ball and as much as I love the Lakers, I think it’s important to realize how situations and surroundings can change everything. That leads me to think a Lonzo Ball trade can actually work for everyone and with all the trade packages to Anthony Davis, that doesn’t seem far off.
Lonzo Ball has been alright in his first season and a half. Sometimes, he looks special and you see the way he can impact the game, be a special floor general, and be a generational passer, and other times you just see him shying away from the ball or not seeming engaged, or bricking. With Lonzo, a lot of that has had to do with his mindset. You could see Lonzo Ball in UCLA being aggressive, creating opportunities along with reading the defense. Lonzo Ball on the Lakers has predominantly been a passive playmaker, creating ball movement that gets everyone involved, but doesn’t put pressure on opposing defenses. It just seems like Lonzo doesn’t have that passion he did on UCLA. I know Lonzo’s always had a stoic, calm demeanor, but his aggression in his play was always there until he got bogged down by media while on the Lakers. Lonzo’s first season was rough because of all the external factors, like his mother dealing with a stroke, his brother getting arrested, the LaVar Ball comments and being on the Lakers, those stories became big and he had to manage his teammates and coaches amongst that while playing his first season and being called a bust although he played decently well. Every mistake was blown up and so this season, LeBron has been great in restoring confidence and you can see stretched where Lonzo has just been aggressive and more like UCLA Lonzo. And without LeBron, you could see more of that in effect. Just before he got injured he had 8 points and 11 assists in 21 minutes. While getting traded would mean Lonzo would lose an invaluable mentor in LeBron, he would also get away from a big root of his problems, the media. Playing in a smaller market simply means that there’s less eyes and less pressure. Lonzo can play on his own pace and find his game without having to rush the process.
Now this works out well for the Lakers for two reasons. One, if they are trading Lonzo, I’m assuming that they got Anthony Davis which is what they want, I mean god damn that trade offer is insane, it’s legit an entire lineup and their future given away. Wow. And well, the Lakers were also under media scrutiny for Lonzo. The story now is that Magic was almost forced into taking Lonzo Ball due to the hype and that the Lakers shouldn’t have taken Lonzo. That’s a lot negative press that they don’t have to handle. I know the Lakers are pretty well equipped at handling all that and having LeBron pretty much compounds all that, but it’s a different type of pressure and not having a guy like LaVar Ball to mess up locker room dynamics is also nice.
The team that gets Lonzo Ball will get a point guard who would be able to play and get better without that added pressure because the team he gets traded to is probably going to be bad. Lonzo can kinda experiment and just be aggressive. Once Lonzo finds his own game and is comfortable in his own skin, you may get a generational point guard. Lonzo has already shown capabilities of being that point guard with LeBron out and at worst, you get a 6’ 6” passing point guard with great defense and a guy shooting 37% from 3. On the Pelicans, that team needs a point guard and so Lonzo fits that mold. On the Suns, that team could use any help they can get and being alongside a scorer in Devin Booker and a big man who can be good in pick-and-rolls would be a great fit for Lonzo who can make those players better while still being relied upon to score.
So it becomes a win-win-win for Lonzo, the Lakers, and whichever team gets him. As much as I do think he would be great alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron, a Lonzo Ball trade actually works for everyone involved. But what do you think? Will Lonzo get traded and if so where? Will the Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers happen?
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