Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball briefly hit a peak in the NBA; then, injuries took their toll in a big way.
Ball, 28, was selected with the second pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Lakers, who viewed the UCLA product as the future of the franchise. His passing was categorized as generational. Lakers icon Magic Johnson dropped a hammer of statement, saying Ball’s jersey would get raised to the rafters one day. All that just for Ball to last two years in L.A., though he was viewed as the major piece in the trade package that brought Anthony Davis to the Lakers.
Ball has been a free agent for several months, but with teams out there needing a veteran guard, it may not be much longer before Ball’s phone rings with an offer. Just don’t expect the Lakers to dial.
Lonzo Ball an Option for the Lakers? Another Team?
The Lakers have their guard position in check, though there was chatter recently that the team was open to welcoming back their former No. 2 overall pick.
The Miami Heat, however, does not have its backcourt set quite yet, which has sparked some rumors that the Heat could reach out to the 28-year-old to fortify the roster. But according to team insider Ira Winderman, Ball doesn’t appear to be an option even for the guard-needy Heat.
“First, Lonzo Ball has been in the NBA too long to qualify for a two-way contract, which is limited to those with three or fewer seasons of service,” Winderman wrote in a subscriber-only Q&A. “And while the Heat do have an open roster spot, the preferred path for any upgrade at this point likely would be on ready-to-go talent, not necessarily a player who may or may not still have it. Keep in mind that Lonzo has been available to any NBA team since he was dealt by the Cavaliers to the Jazz in February and then immediately waived.”
Ball’s career has been derailed by multiple serious injuries. He even went over 1,000 days without appearing in an NBA game as he battled an extreme knee injury. Before then, Ball was a driving force of a Chicago Bulls team that was on pace to finish with a top two seed in the Eastern Conference.
Ball, who arrived in Chicago in a sign-and-trade from New Orleans in 2021, rebuilt his jumpshot with the Bulls and emerged as one of the league’s top two-way guards.
Ball Still Hanging Out in Free Agency
Ball has shown too much not to get another chance in the NBA, and he’s only 28.
Nine years ago, Ball entered the Association with as much fanfare as any player in recent history. Ball was an elite prospect, no doubt, but a lot of the chatter, some of it negative, around Ball was generated by his father, who famously made statements like saying Ball was a better point guard than Steph Curry and that LeBron James would win a championship if he came to Los Angeles to play alongside his son. (At least he was almost right on that one!)
As for a potential return to L.A., team insider Jovan Buha reported last summer that the Lakers “would be” open to reuniting with Ball and that it would only be a “matter of what his price is” in making that call.
In his two seasons as a Laker, Ball averaged 10 points, 6.4 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game in 99 regular season games.
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