Lonzo Ball has already been impressing Cleveland Cavaliers fans in the preseason, and it's clear that he and Donovan Mitchell are going to be a fantastic duo in the upcoming regular season relative to how the Cavs want to play.
This version of Cleveland thrives most when dictating the tempo. That can look like playing fast or not, but generally controlling the pace of the game leads to the best results for this team. This is where Ball figures to be a fantastic complement to Mitchell's scoring gravity.
Lonzo has always been an excellent tempo manager. He's always been the kind of player to be keen to push the ball opportunistically, but above all, he's a smart player. Ball isn't going to be rash with his decision-making, and he'll always slow things down to run a half-court set where he needs to.
What this can allow for in certain situations is for Mitchell to move off-ball and affect the game in that way. Donovan can conserve his energy over the course of a game more playing alongside Lonzo, and focus purely on helping the offense succeed by way of scoring or making an extra pass rather than being tasked directly with having to initiate on every possession.
Ball and Mitchell will be an electrifying duo
Pushing the tempo isn't necessarily going to be something that Cleveland has to prioritize for this offense to succeed under Ball and Mitchell. But with that being said, Lonzo is still going to have a profound effect on the Cavaliers' ability to get out in transition more and be more dynamic in that sense.
Ball is arguably one of the league's best transition initiators and hit-ahead passers. If you run the floor, odds are he's going to find you and reward you.
We of course can't forget about Lonzo's defensive impact and what that means for this duo, either. His elite perimeter defense skills will help to majorly balance out Cleveland's backcourt when he and Mitchell are in the game at the same time. Donovan can handle a lot of the scoring load, while Ball takes the toughest guard assignment on the other end.
Effectively, this could shape up to be a dream pairing. Lonzo Ball's elite court vision and unselfishness mixed with his stellar defensive ability looks to be a near perfect complement to the lead ball-handler role that Donovan Mitchell operates in. We knew all summer long that this was going to be a positive addition for the Cavs, but I believe it may end up looking downright spectacular.