On the brink of entering the N.B.A., LaMelo Ball is a most unusual prospect.

His name has been suggested as a potential No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s N.B.A. draft, but he also could fall out of the top five in a class considered by executives to lack standout players. Like his brother Lonzo, who was selected with the No. 2 pick in 2017, LaMelo’s shooting form is unorthodox to the point of suspect. His size — 6 feet 7 inches and roughly 180 pounds — does not make him a natural fit at any position, at least not immediately. And nearly three years after he left the California high school where he first burst onto the national scene, there is still a very limited sample of tape showing Ball succeeding against the kind of competition he might face in the N.B.A.

In some ways, though, Ball, 19, represents a new generation of basketball players who will be populating the N.B.A. in the coming decade. As the youngest of three basketball-playing, reality show-making brothers, he is already more famous than most professional athletes, with more Instagram followers than the majority of N.B.A. players. His highlights had been viewed by millions on social media before he was old enough to drive a car. And all of that attention has come in spite of his having circumvented the N.C.A.A. entirely, perhaps proving that an American player can skip attending a leading program like Duke or North Carolina, earn significant money overseas and still be a top pick.

On that last point, he is not alone this year. James Wiseman, who played only three games at Memphis University, and Killian Hayes, an American-born point guard who grew up in France, are also projected to be lottery picks. It is possible, if not probable, that the majority of picks in the draft’s top 10 will have little to no connection to the N.C.A.A. system.

Source: New York Times

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