These 2 Lonzo Ball assists against Kentucky show why NBA scouts love him

UCLA Bruins freshman point guard Lonzo Ball is going to make a lot of money to play basketball very, very soon. There are a bunch of reasons for an NBA team to snap him up early in this summer’s draft: his length (6’6 as a point guard!), his odd but efficient shooting stroke, his speed, his agility, and his overall athleticism.

I’m not smart enough to tell you what the single best attribute of Ball’s game is. There are too many. But I can tell you that his passing ability is right up there at the top, and I can make my case with two passes he made on Friday in a Sweet 16 game against Kentucky. Let’s look at these things of beauty.

Here’s one:

I don’t know. Ball looks like he’s about to stop, jab-step, and try a fadeaway three-pointer against Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox, who is prepared for exactly that. Fox needs to be, because Ball is a 42 percent three-point shooter. And if Ball isn’t going to keep the ball and shoot it, then surely, he’s just dishing a little bounce pass to his teammate in the corner. Motion offense, and all that.

Fox does not expect Ball to loft a pinpoint alley-oop, with one hand, from behind the three-point line, while his body is moving toward the right corner. Kentucky forward Wenyen Gabriel is not expecting Ball to drop this perfect pass to the man he’s guarding, who’s standing still until just before Ball makes his move.

What do you do about that, other than helplessly watch UCLA score?

Here’s another pass:

Again, defenses have good reason to be scared of a Ball three-pointer. On this play, two Kentucky defenders are clearly worried about that. Neither of them sees big center Thomas Welsh cutting toward the basket, but Ball does. That’s two points.

Ball is the country’s leading assist man, at 7.6 per game. That’s not just because he’s on a great team. Ball sees things defenses don’t, and he punishes them. He’ll eventually be doing the same thing to the professionals.