Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[F Gump]

Ball's career stats from ESPN

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/...lonzo-ball

IF he was fully healthy, I'm not seeing him as a solution to anything. I would prefer to go in another direction.

I think there's some tea-leaf-reading that needs to be done. Looking at his stats, Lakers for a couple of years, Pelicans for a couple of years, Bulls for a couple of years. To know him is to trade him? The idea of Ball is better than the actual Ball? Is there something about him that makes teams what to trade him? It's why I brought up KP before. Once a team sees what they have, they're dissatisfied. Is Ball in that same category? Seems like a great player to have on your team, but once you have him on your team, you go to looking to trade him.

Even though I think there were circumstances that have caused teams to be willing to move him (LA was because they had to trade everyone to make the AD trade work, NO because they didnt feel they could afford his salary, CHI presumably due to the injury limitations), I do COMPLETELY AGREE Ball has also been overrated and not nearly as impactful as teams imagined. I've never thought the bang would live up to the hype. Not really a fan for the most part. 

And it's possible he's so injured he would never play in Dallas, in which case I think it's a GOOD trade anyhow because to me the value is in the salary dump provided. (OTOH, if Nico the Idiot got Ball for a player with value, such as PJ or Gaff, then that's awful.)

My Ball expectations as a player would be low. Basically I would hope for SOME health, and I aee a flawed player who can get the ball up the floor well and safely, defend and rebound, and offer some size at PG with what that brings. I don't think THOSE expectations are overly optimistic (because there are about none). Whether the Mavs expectations and reasoning would be similar, who knows.

But also with those very low hopes, I would wonder if J Kidd might have some ability to help him actually improve his game as a big PG with those natural advantages. JK knows the game and is good with PGs. If Ball has something in him that can be brought out, Kidd is likely to find it. 

FWIW I would see a similar idea with Ben Simmons, who I would never pay more than minimum. But BS doesnt provide the salary dump possibilities, so then any value rests totally on his game with all the flaws. Not as attractive overall to me.