LaMelo Ball Rumors: Top Prospect's Shot Described as 'Broken'

LaMelo Ball is widely considered to be one of the top prospects available at the 2020 NBA draft, but there are reportedly concerns about his game.

One source described Ball's shot as "broken" to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, while another has issues with his effort level on defense. Fedor couched those notes in positive descriptions of the prospect's playmaking ability and court vision, but the red flags are notable when juxtaposed with reported question marks coming from the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State is positioned to potentially land the No. 1 pick with the NBA's worst record at 15-50, but Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle cited multiple league sources who said the five-time defending Western Conference champions "aren't believed to be high" on Ball.

"I think they'd only take one of those two if they were trading down in the draft and taking them for another team," one source said about Ball and former Memphis big man James Wiseman.

While the Warriors may not want to draft him, there is still plenty to like about the youngest Ball brother.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected him to go No. 3 overall in a March mock draft, pointing to his playmaking as his "signature strength," while Sam Vecenie of The Athletic listed him at No. 1 on his latest big board of prospects.

It should be noted given the comments about Ball's shot that there were similar concerns about Lonzo Ball's jumper going into the 2017 NBA draft. That didn't stop the Los Angeles Lakers from taking the older Ball brother with the No. 2 overall pick, and he has developed into a reliable outside shooter on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Lonzo is an unspectacular 34.3 percent shooter from deep in his career, but he has shown a drastic improvement during his first season with the Pelicans, connecting on 38.3 percent of his triples in 56 games before play was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While they are different players, Lonzo's ability to influence the game in a number of ways with his court vision and ability to battle for boards from the guard position underscores what LaMelo can do on the floor as well.

It is not difficult to envision LaMelo also developing more consistency with his perimeter shot with some experience in the NBA, just like his brother has in New Orleans.