Cavs: 3 players that would benefit most by LaMelo Ball selection in 2020 NBA Draft

If the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to select LaMelo Ball in the 2020 NBA Draft, he could become a great contributor for them pretty early on, and three players on Cleveland would especially benefit from Ball’s selection.

With the 2019-20 NBA season suspended until further notice due to concerns involving the novel coronavirus, of which Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert first tested positive for among the NBA and plenty of others reportedly have since, but the Cleveland Cavaliers likely to have a very high pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, whenever that ultimately is, I figured it’d be relevant to discuss prospect LaMelo Ball.

More so, I figured I’d highlight three players on the Cavs that would benefit the most by Cleveland’s potential selection of LaMelo Ball in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Cleveland is currently projected to have the second overall pick in the upcoming draft, for reference, according to Tankathon, and Ball, who last played for the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks (of Australia) before his season ended due to a foot injury, is one of the top prospects.

The first player that comes to mind is a heck of a roller.

Andre Drummond

The 6-foot-10, 279-pound Andre Drummond, who the Cavaliers acquired near the 2020 NBA trade deadline from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Brandon Knight, John Henson and a future second-round pick.

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Assuming Drummond, who seems likely to opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season, given most teams not projecting to have much cap space (though he still could opt out) is a Cavalier next season, he could become a lethal pick-and-roll weapon alongside LaMelo Ball and perhaps could be a long term piece for Cleveland.

Ball has incredible feel as a passer, and though he has a ways to go in terms of polish as a young player, he would be able to feed Drummond early and often throughout games with lobs and nice entry passes.

Moreover, in operating in pick-and-roll with Drummond, Ball could create mismatches, and he has the vision to take advantage, especially at 6-foot-7, and he averaged 7.0 assists this season with Illawarra, per NBL.com.

As a primary playmaker in plenty of instances at that size, too, Ball pick-and-rolls with Drummond would make it tough on opposing defenses.

Ball needs to cut down on bad shots in those instances, though, and while he averaged 17.0 points in the NBL this season, he only shot 37.7 percent. Pick-and-roll shot-making potential and an impressive handle makes him with Drummond a really promising pair, however.

Another player that would benefit greatly by playing alongside Ball is a young guard that’s really been making a name for himself on the Cleveland Cavaliers.