If Philadelphia 76ers Land Second In NBA Draft, Is PG Lonzo Ball The Pick?

Four Reasons To Select Lonzo Ball At Two

While not unanimous, the overall consensus of the 2017 NBA Draft is simply the presumption that if you are not picking point guard Markelle Fultz in the 2017 NBA Draft, your next best selection is point guard Lonzo Ball

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Pippen Ain't Easy

REASON ONE: He’s BIG

UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball is a 6-foot-6 point guard and he truly is a point guard. That being said, he fits the Philadelphia 76ers roster in that bigger seems to be better.  Compared to 6-foot-10 Ben Simmons at the one position, with 7-foot-2 Joel Embiid expecting to stand under the basket at the five role, Ball is a runt. In fact, he would only measure taller than three of the Philadelphia 76ers returning players.

With the team skyscraping while the rest of the NBA continues to lean towards small ball, the Philadelphia 76ers are assuming some amount of risk.  But if the team is as good on court as the sneak previews from January 2017, this will be the future direction of the NBA.

REASON TWO: He’s GOOD

Another not so surprising fact, he’s very good.  He contributes at all areas of the game.  While scoring 14.6 points, he also pulls down six rebounds, tosses out 7.6 assists, steals 1.8 and blocks .8 shots a game.  On top of that, he is at home at the perimeter, where he knocks down 41.2 percent of his shots from long range.

And he’s young.  He is one more example of the “one and done” NCAA crop who played a mandatory year in the NCAA just to fill the regulations. That means he is still very much on the progression of talent and skill.