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Los Angeles Lakers: Analyzing Lonzo Ball’s path to Rookie of the Year

By Anthony Santillo

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers receives the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League MVP Award before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2017 Summer League Finals on July 17, 2017 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 17: Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers receives the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League MVP Award before the game against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2017 Summer League Finals on July 17, 2017 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The 2017 NBA Summer League was everything Los Angeles Lakers fans wanted and more. Winning the Summer League title, Lonzo Ball winning Summer League MVP and Kyle Kuzma looking like the steal of the draft. It was great to see the Lakers finally winning something regardless of what it was.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, there is still a lot of work to do for the Los Angeles Lakers with this young and eager roster. However, if they are aiming to head in the same direction as the Golden State Warriors did by building a title contender through the draft, they are certainly doing a great job.

Remember, the Golden State Warriors won the Las Vegas Summer League title in 2013 led by Draymond Green and Ian Clark. At that time, no one was talking about the Warriors being a title contender, especially with the Heat and the Spurs being so dominant.

Two years later they were NBA Champs. Now, I’m not saying that’s the case with our roster, but for the first time since Kobe tore his Achilles, things are starting to look up for the Lakers. Now, I know it was only the Summer League but let’s take a look at the obstacles Lonzo faces on his path to win Rookie of the Year.

This might not seem as bold as you might think, but winning Rookie of the Year is no easy task, especially with the competition that Lonzo has. Dennis Smith Jr. is on a Mavericks roster that has no one to handle the ball and their number one scorer, Dirk Nowitzki, is 39 years old.

They could easily let Smith Jr. take full control of the offense and take ROY. Jayson Tatum is on a title contender with three All-Stars around him who will only make him better. Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz are on a team surrounded by youth, so anyone on that team has the opportunity to become the number one option. Also, we can’t forget about De’Aaron Fox or Josh Jackson. 

After his Summer League performance, Lonzo is obviously one of the leading candidates for ROY award and now he’ll be playing with the Lakers roster filled with better and more experienced players around him. Ingram will be back and looking for a breakout year, Lopez and KCP are set to be free agents next summer and both will be looking for a long-term deal so they need to have great seasons.

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Julius Randle pulled a Jared from Subway on us  and turned his beer belly into a six pack of washboard abs. Playing alongside these players in his starting five as opposed to the Summer League roster will only help Lonzo continue the success he had over summer. 

However, this will definitely take away his scoring chances. Lonzo struggled with scoring, specifically creating his own shot. This wasn’t even against established defenders like he’ll be seeing on a nightly basis in the regular season. He needs to work on his ball handling and ability to take guys off the dribble if he wants to be a threat offensively, which he’ll need to do if his shooting troubles continue through the regular season.

In order for him to be a real threat offensively, he must improve his jump shot. That will allow the Lakers to spread the floor for Ingram to drive and kick, Lopez to post up and go to work, Randle to take bigger and slower forwards off the dribble, and most of all make Lonzo a threat when he doesn’t have the ball. Right now, when Lonzo doesn’t have the ball in his hand, the only threat he poses is his ability to rebound. Put a body on him and now he’s just an extra body taking up space.

On the other hand, if Lonzo’s passing was a glimpse of what’s to come than the supporting cast on the Lakers are very excited for the season to come. Lonzo nearly averaged 10 assists a game, and that was playing with other rookies and former D-League (now the G-League) players.

Put him with the full roster and those number should only increase. With a much better supporting cast around him during the regular season, Lonzo should expect more open shot attempts and fewer plays where he has to create his own shot to get the offense going.

Lonzo was the first scoring option on this Summer League, maybe second if you think Kuzma was, but on the full roster, Lonzo won’t even be in the top 3 scoring options, assuming the Lakers are going to run some offense through Brook Lopez. This will take a lot of pressure of Lonzo to look to score when he has the ball and allow him to do what he loves first, passing, and let the scoring come to him.

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If he works hard on his offense before the season begins and starts shooting with some consistency, especially from downtown, there is no reason why Lonzo can’t be the first Los Angeles Laker to win Rookie of the Year (Elgin Baylor won it with the Minneapolis Lakers). 

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