Aside from an absolutely “oogly” jumper that functioned as poorly as it was formed, Lonzo Ball, well, balled out at the Las Vegas Summer League.

The 6’6”, 190-pounder averaged 16.3 points, a summer league-record 9.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks in six games. Heck, he copped MVP honors without even suiting up for the final against a red-hot Caleb Swanigan and the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers. The totality of his performance has Los Angeles Lakers fans wishfully buying into the hype his boisterous father, LaVar Ball, created.

But what, if anything, does it all mean? Should everyone become Ball-ievers?

Shooting

Through two games, matchups against the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, Ball was a taker, not a maker. He connected on just seven of his 28 field-goal attempts, and the 25 percent clip included an abysmal 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from deep.

It’s no surprise the Lakers dropped both contests to go into the tournament draw as the No. 15 seed.

While it wasn’t inconsistent with his play at UCLA, Lonzo’s shot selection was more suspect than a police lineup, given his struggles finding twine. According to Hoop-Math.com, 56.6 percent of his field goals were taken from beyond the arc during his time with the Bruins. But, despite the Bill Cartwright/Michael Kidd-Gilchrist-esque flicked motion, he sank 41.2 percent of them—a mark good enough for eighth in the Pac-12. Compare that to summer league, where he launched 42 of his 89 attempts (47.9 percent) from downtown. However, he hit just 10 for an atrocious 23.8 percent mark.

But don’t expect him to stop chucking it up from distance.

“The biggest challenge is my shot, my shot’s not going in,” Ball told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver. “My shot is off. Everybody knows I’m going to keep shooting. My confidence is there. I’ve just got to hit them.”

He was a little better in summer league’s tournament play, going 8-of-26 (30.7 percent) on three-pointers in four games. But that figure would’ve ranked No. 37 among qualified NBA point guards in 2016-17. Who was the only starter who shot it worse from 3? Yeah, you guessed it: Ricky Rubio (30.6 percent)

Fortunately, there’s so much room for improvement in this department:

Opponents already sag off Ball in half-court sets in an effort to limit his wizardrous passing. Against more capable defenders and complex defensive schemes, he either needs to make it rain more often or show more restraint outside 23.75 feet to get the most from his gifts.

Passing

Ball’s abilities as a passer have a quintessence of mystique that, though they can’t be wholly quantified, must be witnessed to be truly appreciated.

In his final four games at the Thomas & Mack Center, he dished out a combined 40 dimes while coughing up the ball the ball 16 times. His 2.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio would’ve placed him in the top 30 in the NBA last season, ahead of the likes of All-Stars such as Kyle Lowry (2.41), Kyrie Irving (2.32) and Stephen Curry (2.20). His 40.8 assist percentage would’ve been sixth, trailing MVP Russell Westbrook (57.3), James Harden (50.7), John Wall (46.9), Chris Paul (46.8) and LeBron James (41.3). Only Westbrook (41.4) topped Ball’s usage rate of 36.6 in the summer-league playoffs.

This should all do wonders for a Lakers offense that rated No. 23 in offensive efficiency (106.96) and is set to add both center Brook Lopez (20. 5 points per game) and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (13.8).

But it’s not simply what he does it’s how he does the damn thing. There’s no stat for foresight, the way he often scans the court and reads the defense before pulling a rebound or receiving an outlet pass. Numbers can’t detail how he calculates exactly how much zip to put on a pass so it goes beyond a defender’s reach and hits his teammate in stride on the break. And those might be his greatest attributes.

Peep this video by Laker Film Room, which shows every pass that created an advantage for his team:

He’ll lead all rookies in assists and challenge for the league lead. I put that on my momma. The boy’s got that “Pistol” Pete Maravich-type stuff you can’t teach.

Defense

The last time Ball laced up them up in a game of any significance, fellow rookie De’Aaron Fox broke him off for 39 points as Kentucky put UCLA’s NCAA tournament title dreams to bed. It sparked debate as to how he would fare in the NBA against elite athletes at point guard, a position that is arguably the deepest in league history.

A minor injury kept him out of what would’ve been a rematch against Fox, but the summer-league semifinals pitted him against Dallas Mavericks rookie Dennis Smith Jr. The battle showed Ball, though he finished with 16 points and 10 assists, still suffers from many of the same ailments. Like a lot of rookie guards, he’s prone to getting lost and fails to recover in pick-and-roll situations. He’s susceptible to being blown by off the dribble, forcing him to foul in order to avoid giving up easy buckets, and he can be flat-out embarrassed on the wing.

 

At one point, Lakers summer-league coach Judd Buechler even decided to go with former Texas A&M point guard Alex Caruso on Smith Jr. That alone should trigger Ball to get on his agility drills and defensive slides ASAP-tually.

All in all, Ball’s numbers in Vegas suggest he could become an adequate scorer—if he makes more or limits the number of the three-pointers he takes—and a once-in-a-lifetime passer.

Y’all are just going to have to pray for him on defense.

 

Follow Nick on Twitter @Birds_Word.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from NBA Math, Basketball Reference or NBA.com.