Lonzo Ball is starting a new chapter in his basketball career, with the Chicago Bulls sending him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a one-on-one trade that also saw Isaac Okoro go from The Land to Windy City.
When healthy, the former UCLA Bruins star point guard can contribute a lot to his team. He’s a natural playmaker who loves distributing the ball. So far in his NBA career, Ball is averaging 5.5 assists per game and 6.7 dimes per 36 minutes.
While Ball isn’t an efficient scorer, as he’s shooting just 39.8 percent in his career in the league, he doesn’t have to prioritize scoring in Cleveland, with the likes of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell around plus arguably the best 1-2 frontcourt punch in the NBA in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
It’s that great makeup by Cleveland that leaves a big impression on Ball.
“I think it’s a great situation for my play style,” Lonzo Ball said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).
“Don [Donovan Mitchell] is one of the best players we have in the league. And they have two bigs that are mobile, can set pick-and-rolls and get to the rim like that. And then do some switching on defense.”
The 27-year-old Ball is also already starting to imagine how things will go on offense and on defense with him on the Cavs’ roster.
“I think we can do a lot of different things on both sides of the ball, and to have the option to be able to do those things is great,” said the former No. 2 overall pick by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA draft.
Then again, the biggest question about Ball is whether his body can hold up. Availability remains a big issue for Lonzo Ball, who missed the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 NBA seasons due to serious knee issues. At some point, many believed that his time in the NBA was over, but he somehow made it back to action last season, playing in 35 games for the Bulls and averaging 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting just 36.6 percent from the floor and 34.4 percent from behind the arc.
Ball can fill the void left by Ty Jerome, who’s now with the Memphis Grizzlies, and see big minutes early in the next campaign, as Garland recovers from a lower-body surgery.
