What have the first 10 games of the 2025-26 NBA season taught the Cleveland Cavaliers about Lonzo Ball? More than anything, the lesson they must have learned is to expect some serious growing pains as they hope to morph their backup point guard into a serious difference-maker once more.
The Cavaliers had every reason to swap Isaac Okoro for Ball during this past offseason. Okoro had reached pretty close to his ceiling in wine and gold. Cleveland also had a hole that needed to be plugged after choosing to move on from Ty Jerome.
Adding Ball made sense on all fronts. Patience will be the key with the two-way guard thriving in Cleveland. In the early parts of 2025-26, Ball is facing the predictable struggles of a player who only played 35 games after missing over two seasons due to injury.
Cleveland can’t afford to give up on the vision amid Lonzo Ball's struggles
Ball's shooting ability, size, playmaking, and perimeter defense should give the Cavaliers what they need to leave no doubt about them being a championship contender this season. The theory of who Lonzo can be is exceeding the practical results in the early stages.
Ball has averaged 4.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 0.9 steals per game, shooting a woeful 29 percent from the field and an equally disappoint mark of 23.5 percent from beyond the arc. The numbers are not pretty.
Ball's playmaking has stood out as a notably strong area of his game thus far. It is hard for that talented of a facilitator to lose his touch.
Beyond that, the scoring struggles are obvious for anyone to see. The Cavaliers will need Ball to produce a healthy diet of spot-up shooting from deep, and dribble penetration that creates the option to score or dish the ball out to an open man. All that is still a work in progress.
Ball only has an offensive rating of 109.4 to start the year. That ranks 10th on the Cavaliers so far.
What may be more disappointing is the other end of the court. Ball ranks 10th on the team with a defensive rating of 112.8. That offers a solid indicator of the story to tell there.
His defense, which had his teammates very excited before the start of the season, has not been at the level most would have hoped for. Ball is getting beat far more often than one would like to see. Simply put, the injury history has the Cavaliers guard playing the part of a player who is still working back towards his full capabilities.
Ball still has every opportunity to become the game-changer the Cavaliers envisioned when they made the move to acquire him. There is no reason to give up after 10 games. However, the disconnect from the vision and the product is a tough watch that has most waiting on a turnaround.