Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why trading Lonzo Ball was the right move

5. He can’t shoot

Let’s be real: Lonzo Ball is a downright terrible shooter. He can’t throw a pea in the ocean, he can’t keep defenses honest, he can’t hit a bull’s behind with a bass fiddle, he can’t throw a miniature Statue of Liberty souvenir into the Hudson River, etc.

In his rookie season he made 30.5 percent of his 3-point attempts, which, as Charles Barkley might say, is tuuurrrible. This past season, he only improved that slightly to 32.9 percent, which is still way below average.

When the Lakers were forced into their halfcourt offense, often times it seemed like they were playing four-on-five because of Ball’s inability to hit outside shots.

Ball’s defenders may point out that after LeBron James went down with his groin injury, the former UCLA standout shot 37.3 percent from downtown in his final 13 games before his ankle injury. That’s promising, but it’s a small sample space, and if you point that out, you also have to point out all of his previous struggles from the outside.

Ball is also a somewhat unreliable finisher around the rim, as he made only 49.4 percent of his shots within three feet in 2017-18. He improved that 59.6 percent in 2018-19, but still missed more than his share of makeable chippies.

He also has no mid-range game whatsoever, whether you’re talking about some type of floater in the lane or post-up game.

But the most embarrassing aspect of Ball’s offensive game is his free throw shooting. He made only 45.1 percent of his foul shots in his rookie season, which is despicable. He did even worse last season, shooting only 41.7 percent from the charity stripe.

When even Shaquille O’Neal criticizes your free throw shooting, you know you’ve got a serious problem.