With the acquisition of LeBron James, which Los Angeles Lakers face the most pressure this season?
At least 12 of the 16 Los Angeles Lakers (including the two players on 2-way contracts) on the roster face pressure in the upcoming season. Now that Luol Deng was bought out/waived, only four are signed beyond the 2018-19 season: LeBron James and rookies Mo Wagner, Svi Mykhailiuk and Isaac Bonga.
The team has options on their four young core players, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. The front office is likely to exercise each of those options, but as we found out this past year with Julius Randle, nothing is certain.
The other eight Lakers will all be unrestricted free agents when the upcoming season ends. That should translate into plenty of hungry players. But who will feel the most pressure?
3. Lonzo Ball
The Lakers selected Lonzo with the No. 2 pick in 2017, and Magic Johnson lavishly praised him at the initial press conference. Magic indicated that Ball’s jersey will one day hang in the Staples Center rafters with the Lakers hall-of-fame greats.
In his first NBA year, Lonzo made the league All-Rookie 2nd team on the strength of his passing, court vision, defense and rebounding. But his unorthodox shooting motion produced just a 36 percent overall field goal percentage, 30.5 percent on 3’s and a horrendous 45 percent from the free throw line. He was also physically roughed up by older, stronger players, and played in only 52 of the team’s 82 games.
When the season ended, Magic said this summer would be the most important of Lonzo’s life. The expectation was that he would work hard to improve on his two biggest deficiencies: conditioning and shooting. Johnson promised that we’d see a different, better Lonzo Ball in 2018-19.
More from Lake Show Life
- Darvin Ham adds to Max Christie hype train after Lakers preseason opener
- Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest Lakers vs Warriors update
- Can Darvin Ham put all of the Lakers puzzle pieces together?
- Lakers news: Darvin Ham knows his fifth starter, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino praise
- Michael Malone’s painfully ironic comment has Lakers fans heated
Early in the offseason, it was reported that Ball was working out hard on toning his body and practicing his shots. Then we suddenly heard he was undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery which put him out of action for an extended period. General Manager Rob Pelinka said that Ball should be ready for the start of the season, but that’s not a sure thing.
Meanwhile, shortly after the free agent signing period began, the Lakers inked veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who is expected to mentor and motivate Lonzo- but perhaps also take away his starting spot in the lineup.
Just how much Ball has been able to work out and what condition he’ll be in to start the season is unknown. We won’t know until the games begin whether he can convert a higher percentage of his shots, even if his form remains non-conventional. And we’ll have to see as the year progresses if he is better able to absorb the pounding that an NBA guard must endure.
But Lonzo will have several factors working in his favor. To begin with, his overall performance as a 20-year old rookie was strong. His basketball IQ is high, and the team performed better with him on the court than without him. And he’ll be able to get advice from a trio of historically outstanding ballhandlers- James, Johnson and Rondo.
Ball will make $8.7 million this year. The team option for him next season is $11 million. It will be up to him to prove to the Lakers that he’s worth it.
Some of the luster seems to have come off Lonzo Ball’s shiny future. But along with the pressure comes a golden opportunity to restore the gleam and show the team he grew up dreaming of playing for that he can indeed be their starting point guard for many years to come and perhaps a future all-star.