Getty Alex Caruso, Lakers
New Orleans Pelicans point guard, Lonzo Ball was part of the trade that shipped NBA All-Star big man, Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers are currently sitting high and in first place in the NBA’s Western Conference, however.
Despite that, former Lakers shooting guard, Tracy Murray checked in with the Scoop B Radio Podcast and shared why LA misses Lonzo Ball.
Check out a snippet from our Q&A below.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: When I look at UCLA a couple of years ago, Lonzo Ball is a guy was making moves then with the Lakers and now is in New Orleans. Do you think that in the long run the Lakers will regret trading Lonzo Ball away to the Pelicans?
Tracy Murray: I would say no for this reason: They don’t have to deal with Lavar. I think they’re missing Lonzo’s talent. Lonzo is a really good point guard. He’s a really good talent. Everybody makes a big deal about his shot, but what he brings to the table is not his shot. What he brings to the table is playmaking, passing, defending, rebounding from a guard point of view. He can do so many things and everybody wants to talk about is his shooting form. Even when he time to shoot the ball, he made it. But as everybody knows in the NBA, you don’t have time. So being able to rush that shot, that is coming across his face, now it’s not as effective as it was in UCLA. Because he was nailing that shot at UCLA. But he had time because his playmaking skills and so many other threats on the floor, now he has time to shoot. But the NBA’s different and he’s going to have to figure that part out, but he does so much other stuff.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: If he wasn’t traded and he was able to play under Jason Kidd, how much do you think Jason Kidd assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers would’ve benefitted Lonzo’s development as a player?
GettyLeBron James and Anthony Davis
Tracy Murray: Awww man. He would have given him everything he needed! He would have equipped him with everything. Because J-Kidd a great point guard in his own right and Hall of Famer, he sees things way like – if you were to watch how fast he moved up the court, he still was seeing things quicker than everybody else. You know, he would make moves and you’re like, “How the hell did he make that move?” moving that fast. He sees things forming before they happen. I’ll never forget, a time I really got banged on like that something nasty in the League was when Jason Kidd was coming at me full speed. And what did he do? – He just dropped it behind his legs, here comes Antonio McDyess! So you know, he set me up! And it’s like the things he did with the basketball, he could definitely transfer that over to Lonzo because if you think about it Lonzo, with the basketball most of his career he was fast with the ball like J-Kidd. That’s why he drew J-Kidd comparisons because he was tall and fast with the ball. And he can pass. Both of them have the non-shooting factor coming in. They both weren’t really great shooters. He would’ve been able to transfer his game to when J-Kidd wasn’t the veteran.