So Lonzo Ball just won the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League MVP award… He averaged 16.3 PTS, 7.7 RPG, and 9.3 AST in 32.5 minutes per game during the six games he played in. Looking on the surface, these numbers seem great for a 19 year old rookie, but when you dive deeper into the percentages, it gets a bit disconcerting. While he has shown prowess in his abilities to distribute the ball, his shooting and turnovers were well below average. His field goal percentage was 38.2%, which is slightly below average, but his three point percentage was 23.8% shooting 10 for 42 in six games. If this was old school NBA where the point guard didn’t need to be an excellent shooter, but an above average passer, Lonzo would fit right in… but this is the 21st century NBA we’re talking about. The league has evolved into a shooters league where players like Steph Curry and James Harden have thrived and others like Tim Duncan or Dwayne Wade have faded into the night.
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I’m well aware that this is only a six game sample and the sky is the limit for Lonzo, but with those shooting numbers and over 3.8 turnovers a game versus late 1st and 2nd round picks, G-Leaguers, and undrafted players (what I’m saying is FLAT OUT SCRUBS) he will have to wildly improve his game if he wants to compete, let alone dominate, at the NBA level.
Also, I just wanted to touch on the whole MVP of the Summer League thing… IT MEANS NOTHING. If you take a look at the past winners of this coveted award, you see they didn’t turn out to be the great players everyone anticipated. Here’s some examples:
2012: (There were two co-MVP’s) Josh Selby and Damian Lillard (Yes I know, he is the one exception)
2013: Jonas Valanciunas (He is an average center, nothing special but also not a bust)
2014: Glen Rice Jr.
2015: Kyle Anderson
2016: Tyus Jones
2017: Lonzo Ball
With the exception of Damian Lillard and Jonas Valanciunas (Barely), these are all bench players with little to no minutes or they have a minimal role (such as garbage time, etc.) Another note, the only player to win Rookie of the Year on this list is Damian Lillard.
I’m not saying Lonzo won’t be a great player, but he has his work cut out for him.