He's earnt the number 1 spot so far by showing glimpses of worked class unteachable talent, has a bit of work to do but what 18yo player doesn’t.

This is overall a fairly weak draft class so look for the order to change regularly throughout the season as more players put their best foot forward. Especially around March madness.

Wow....lite of draft year.

Makur Maker talk about a mature age recruit

"yes people like ME, koberulez and rjd have no f***ing clue" - anonotroll

WTF? This has nothing to do with Boomers discussion. What a pathetic, cowardly troll you are.

On topic, Ball appears to be developing well. Interesting that Ball is now getting this attention while not really being in any all-NBL teams discussion. I wonder if teams are starting to re-calibrate the value of young players in pro ball environments with tangible playmaking talent since Doncic started dominating after being snubbed for number 1, despite being an 18 year-old Euroleague MVP and Final 4 MVP.

Some people don't understand.
#1 Pick doesn't mean he's the best player currently, so does not imply those below him are crap.
But this kid is only a few months over 18, and he's strutting his stuff in a tough professional league.
So you've a go choice between him, and a player who may be better, bigger, stronger, and more advanced, but has taken 4 years of college to get there...
It's a no brainer especially when you factor in the media factor.
There will always be hype around any number one pick, but whomever gets Lamelo gets an additional PR boost right off the bat.
18 yr kid going halfway round the world to a league most people never heard of and comes back #1 pick, the media will eat that up with a spoon.

Not saying you would draft on that basis, but it would certainly be a nice cherry on the cake.

Even if you account for him doing it on a weak team and putting up a lot of shots, it's still a very decent effort. We are stingy with assists, for one thing. His dad's a twit and I can understand people resenting that, but at what point are some people hating hype for the sake of it?

He'd be racking up more assists if the hawks bigs weren't missing sitters under the basket.

It's hard to gauge where he’s at, relative to his peers in the US college system, just because we don’t really have many situations worthy of comparison. Other than Hampton, the only other real comparable scenario is Ferguson coming in as a potential lottery pick, and he really struggled his season here, but despite that he’s carved out a niche in the NBA after going 18th overall (granted he plays a very specific role that highly sought after, as a 3-&-D wing with length and athleticism). Lonzo went 2nd, and I think Lamelo is a better prospect than his brother, in as much as he also is a more skilled ball handler/scorer, but probably doesn’t have his defensive prowess (but I imagine teams feel they can at least teach some). His outside shot would be my only real worry, as getting to the hoop is potentially harder against an engaged and more athletic NBA defence (in theory), but who knows, playing with better players might make the game easier. I know at least he’s better right now than any of New York’s point guards currently on their roster.

The sooner he changes the mechanics of that jumper, the better it will be in the long-run. Steph Curry changed his shooting form at about age 16, with his father citing the main problem previously being its low release. LaMelo suffers from a similar problem, although that's not the only issue with it. While Steph had an elite shooting father to guide him, LaMelo's father is the one arguably responsible for his ugly low release mechanics. Lavar apparently has encouraged his kids to freely shoot very long-range shots from a very young age, which appears to have fostered low release shooting mechanics aimed at generating power. LaMelo might be able to refine his current shot to shoot at a better clip, which is low in the NBL also due to bad shot selection, but he will continue to struggle in the NBA if the mechanics don't change. Lonzo altered his shot recently and now he's a much more respectable 35% shooter from range.

Crumble, I thought the same thing, about the comparison to Lonzo. He was picked high and is a smart player, but not without flaws. You'd have to think LaMelo has a decent starting position as well as wildcard-type upside.

A shortcut to gauge relative talent is the fact LaMelo is better than Lonzo and the latter has held onto a spot in the NBA.

The comment by Violet Crumble: "His outside shot would be my only real worry, as getting to the hoop is potentially harder against an engaged and more athletic NBA defence (in theory), but who knows, playing with better players might make the game easier."

I think the opposite is true.

During the WCs, Gianni's game results were disappointing. The pundits pointed out that in the NBA, with the larger courts, (much more space to make moves), 1 on 1 iso plays, picks and rolls/pops and the defensive 3 second rule The NBA style suits their coditions. More acurately, the courts and rules have been re-designed to suit the game they play.

That's how Lamelo is playing in the NBL (FIBA cons and rules) with our zones, and centres camped under the basket etc, I think it will be easier for him to adapt to the better "conditions and rules" in the NBA.

His shot does need consistency but that will come.

"His dad's a twit and I can understand people resenting that, but at what point are some people hating hype for the sake of it?"

Is he though?

I don't like the US culture either, but it is what is, and its all about Building your Brand.
Even with Bogut coming back to the NBL, the sticking point with MU was controlling the use of Image/Brand.

If Lamelo Ball was Fred Gork from Nebraska, would he be getting $$$ to play here, or just the base $100k?
Would his games be the most watched in NBL History?
Would they be selling his jerseys by the truckload?

Would he be touted as $1 pick, or would he in fact be "out of sight = out of mind" for the American media.

Gotta be honest, in future years if they give out an award for the Best Next Star, it should be called the Lamelo Ball award. He has MADE this program.