Despite missing out on Jeremy Sochan and now Haywood Highsmith in recent days, the Golden State Warriors could still wind up as the biggest winner of the post-trade deadline free agency period if they land former second overall pick Lonzo Ball.
Ball would be a controversial signing for the Warriors given reports of their interest has already elicited a wide range of reaction from fans, but the 28-year-old does have a level of upside that Sochan, Highsmith and others arguably don’t possess.
Lonzo Ball could still be the best move for the Warriors
It appeared as if Golden State were close to acquiring Ball after he was traded by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz last week, before promptly being waived which has left the 28-year-old as a free agent.
However, things on Ball have gone quiet after a report from NBA insider Marc Stein at the start of the week suggesting the Warriors weren’t as keen as initially thought.
“There were some fresh rumbles over the weekend that the Warriors might opt not to sign Lonzo Ball in the end after converting Pat Spencer from a two-way deal to a standard NBA contract,” Stein wrote.
Yet with Sochan and Highsmith no longer available, Ball still appears like the best option for Golden State, even if some fans are underwhelmed at the prospect of the injury-prone guard. Ball has shown a higher ceiling at NBA level than both Highsmith and Sochan, while also being a theoretically better fit for the Warriors than the latter.
Ball averaged 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists on 37.8% 3-point shooting in his last full season, before following that with 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in his 35 games with the Chicago Bulls in 2021-22 before injury struck.
That’s the downside with Ball. There’s a strong chance he’ll never get close to that kind of player again after missing nearly three full calendar years. However, giving up on that possibility completely after only 12 months since his return seems unfair on the still relatively young 28-year-old.
Combine that with the Warriors being in a middling spot where they’re neither tanking nor viewed as a serious title contender, and signing Ball isn’t too much of a gamble necessarily on a minimum contract and with the last roster spot.
Taking a swing on Ball in the case the Warriors can unlock somewhere in the vicinity to his pre-injury form makes sense and could make them the biggest winners from this post deadline period, even if it’s more likely to fizzle out into nothing more than a short-term project that fails to pay off.