2. Same jump shot different Lonzo
One of the biggest rumors of the Lakers offseason was that Lonzo Ball was going to have a new and improved shooting stroke, compared to the ugly form he struggled with last season. Even Magic Johnson said that he expects Ball to have a breakout season and a big reason why was because of his tweaked shooting form.
On the other hand, Lonzo does not seem to think he changed much about his shot from last season. On media day, he denied any notion that he has an entirely new shooting form and he said that his form has adjusted because he has added more size to his somewhat wiry frame.
"“Every body is saying my jump shot is this new thing. To me, it’s not really changed a lot,” he said on Monday. “I think I just got a lot stronger so I don’t have to really fling the ball like I did last year. It’s moved a little more to the middle but it’s still on the left side.”"
Ball was no Brandon Ingram in terms of slenderness in his rookie season, but he still had a ton of room to add muscle on to his body. At media day, Ball looked like he had been doing a lot of work in the weight room this offseason, and he thinks that his added strength to his upper body will allow him to have a smoother shot next season.
He did pretty much everything well besides shooting the ball last season, so if this slightly adjusted form and more NBA ready body can help aide him in that category, then he should be able to have a bigger impact on winning next year. He only shot 30.5 percent from three last season and was not much better from anywhere else, going 36 percent from the field last year as well.
Ball will definitely need to improve those numbers to compete for minutes with Rondo. He will be coming off the bench to start the season and he might stay there if he continues to shoot poorly.