The Los Angeles Lakers are multiple iterations and an NBA championship removed from current Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball’s stint with the team, but the 28-year-old UCLA product still has thoughts about how his exit went down.
The Lakers made a blockbuster trade involving Ball early in the 2019 season, sending Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round draft picks to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for star power forward/center Anthony Davis. Los Angeles won a title during its first season with Davis.
Davis, of course, has since made his own exit in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, but his five-and-a-half seasons in Los Angeles did result in the aforementioned 2020 ring and a second Western Conference Finals appearance in 2023. Regardless, Ball feels that he could have made his mark on the franchise.
“Unpopular opinion probably though I feel like I could have played with D’Angelo Russell honestly. I think they should have just maybe just kept all these picks and just see how it would have went but I mean they still got the ring so, you know, worked out for them,” Ball said on the Ball in the Family podcast with Lonzo and Gelo Ball on YouTube.
Ball’s proven he can be a major contributor on the court, averaging 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his second season in New Orleans, but his struggles with injury complicate his argument about what could have been with the Lakers.
Lonzo Ball’s Health Struggles
The 6-foot-6 pro has struggled to stay healthy since suffering a meniscus tear in January 2022, missing the entire 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
He played 35 games last season for the Chicago Bulls coming primarily off the bench before he was traded to the Cavaliers over the offseason.
Through 15 games in Cleveland this season, Ball is averaging 24 minutes per game, recording 6.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. He will get the chance to see his former team in January, when the Lakers travel to Cleveland for a mid-season matchup.
Davis joined Ball as players to be sent on a one-way trip out of Los Angeles last February, with the Lakers getting star guard Luka Doncic in return. Doncic, who is just 26, offers the Lakers a bright future even after star forward LeBron James retires.
If the path to acquiring Doncic meant parting ways with both Ball and eventually Davis, the Lakers are probably content with their decision.
