There's a new trend for highly recruited high school basketball players. Instead of going to college, where they don't get paid, some are going internationally to play a year before they enter the draft. Some of the more notable players using that strategy this year are names like LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton, both players coming to play in Australia's top league, the NBL.
Both Ball and Hampton are projected to be drafted in the top five by almost all NBA analysts. Ball went to play for the Illawarra Hawks while Hampton joined the New Zealand Breakers.
LaMelo Ball disagreed with many that say going to college is the best way to prepare for the NBA.
“I just think it is the best route for me. I’m trying to be the No.1 pick for the 2020 draft,” Ball said via ESPN's The Jump earlier this June.
Ball started his NBL career rather slowly, his three point percentage dipping as low as 18% or so. But recently he has been putting together a very impressive season. He's recently recorded back-to-back triple doubles, and is leading his team in rebounds per game, assists per game and steals. He's averaging 17 points per game, good for second on the Hawks, and 13th in the NBL.
17-7-7 might not seem like a great stat line compared to lots of NBA guys, but Ball is just 18 playing against grown men. This is the same thing Luka Doncic did when he was in his teens. He was putting up 13-6-5 in 24 minutes a game his last year in the second best basketball league in the world at age 18. But people still overlooked him. Since Ball is projected to go number 1 in the 2020 NBA Draft, I won't say he's overlooked, just don't underestimate him.
Unfortunately, Ball recently suffered a foot injury, bruising it in practice last week. Right before I wrote this, ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported that LaMelo will miss "about four weeks". I doubt this will hurt his draft stock at all, but why is he playing that hard in practice? He just put up back-to-back triple doubles and he's going hard enough in practice to get hurt? There's something wrong there.
Anyways, LaMelo Ball has certainly made me more interested in the National Basketball League, and he's shown future young players another route that they can still perform well in and get paid.
There have been talks about how the NCAA and NBA should let some players go straight to the NBA after high school, like Lebron James. International basketball remains a valid option and alternative to college ball. I think everyone should be excited in the direction basketball, the NBA and other leagues, is going.
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(Photo credit: SEN)