WOLLONGONG, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 25: Lamelo Ball of the Hawks celebrates hitting a three point shot late in the final quarter during the round 8 NBL match between the Illawarra Hawks and the Cairns Taipans at WIN Entertainment Centre on November 25, 2019 in Wollongong, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

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LaMelo Ball Tanking Draft Stock? Still, Going Top-Three, Says NBA Analyst

by Landon Buford October 31, 2020, 3:11 am 560 Views 0 Votes

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – OCTOBER 24: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks with a put back dunk during the round four NBL match between the New Zealand Breakers and the Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena on October 24, 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)

LaMelo Ball is slated to be a lottery pick in this year’s upcoming draft, we just don’t know which team will draft him. He has been linked to the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Charlotte Hornets to name a few.

If you ask his father Lavar Ball, he will tell you that he would prefer the Knicks or the Pistons draft him.

“The makeup that they have right now, that’s not good for him. When they finished with the AD and LeBron era and all that — cause check this out: I already had a son in LA, with a raggedy a** coach. So it don’t matter where you go, the key is to have the right coach behind you.”

Lavar Ball on what teams he wants LaMelo Ball to get drafted by

New York Knicks
Detroit Pistons pic.twitter.com/acwpgiKFuN
— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) October 30, 2020

Last week Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer was a guest on Sports Radio WFNZ and shared that he is the youngest Ball brother is not performing well in predraft interviews.

“Here is what I’m hearing from the league at large: LaMelo Ball is not performing very well at job interviews. I’ve heard that from multiple sources. He is not improving his perception via job interview. There are people drafting later in the top ten who were not preparing for the possibility of Ball still being around,” said Rick Bonnell. “And I’m not saying that he will not be a top-three pick. I am saying that I know for a fact that there are teams later in the top ten who are doing more research on him, because they no longer think it’s a given he will.”

One theory is that Ball is intentionally tanking interviews to avoid going to Golden State, Chicago, and Charlotte.

However, NBA and college basketball analyst Brendan Haywood believes none of that will matter come draft day.

“It don’t matter, he is still going top three they know who LaMelo Ball is. Here is the thing, LaMelo’s life has been on TV since he was a teenager. They know exactly who LaMelo is, they know he is a little wild,” said Haywood on IG Live with Ryan Hollins On Friday. “They know he is a little immature, they know who his dad is. He still going top three it is a very weak draft and he is a talented really big point guard. He is going top three. “