LaMelo Ball Fantasy Basketball Outlook | How Should You Approach Ball Going Forward?
Discussing LaMelo Ball after he was shut down for the rest of the season, and what it means for his fantasy outlook going forward.
It’s been a tough season for LaMelo Ball.
The young guard played in just 22 games and is now officially out for the season with an ankle injury. Let’s discuss what that means for Ball as a fantasy asset going forward.
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LaMelo Ball’s Season/Career Stats
When on the court over his four-year career, Ball has been a star. The problem is that he’s missed a bunch of games already.
He played 51 games as a rookie before a career-best 75 games in year two. Ball appeared in just 36 games a season ago before getting in just 22 games this season. In the year he nearly got in a full season (75 games), he was an All-Star.
He averages 20 points per game for his career, and was at a career-best 23.9 points this season. Ball also averaged 8 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 0.2 blocks this season. All in all, he was one of the better fantasy players in the game, so it’s a shame he was limited to just 22 games.
Ball is just 22 years old, but with a couple of injury-riddled seasons in a row, his fantasy stock going into next season is going to be quite a bit further down than where he started before this season. Ball was the 18th-ranked player on the FantasySP Average Draft Position list this season, with a mark of 18.87.
Fantasy Outlook/How to Proceed with Ball
Ball can be safely dropped in all redraft leagues, if you haven’t already made that move. It’s unfortunate the team didn’t announce this news earlier, because Ball likely took up a valuable roster spot for many fantasy teams that didn’t have any injured reserve spots to take advantage of. At least now, you can use that roster spot to chase a fantasy title, although it won’t be a player at the fantasy level of Ball.
For those of you in dynasty/keep leagues that own Ball (I’m one of them), things are definitely trickier.
Ball’s trade value is still somewhat high, but it’s unlikely you could swing a trade that would net you a player going where Ball did in fantasy drafts this season. Then the question becomes: should you even trade Ball away if you can’t get good value in return, or should you hold out hope that he turns his career around starting next season?
Being only 22 years old, there’s plenty of time, in my opinion, for Ball to get things moving in the right direction. It didn’t help matters that the Charlotte Hornets were terrible this season, meaning it didn’t make a lot of sense to have Ball come back. I’m sure the team would love to see Ball get in a few games before committing to building around him long term, but the risk probably outweighs that thought, so the team just shut him down and will focus on getting him ready for next season.
The Hornets have some nice foundational pieces to build around, and should add another high draft pick this coming offseason. If Ball can stay healthy, there’s no reason that Charlotte couldn’t compete for one of the final few playoff spots.
In dynasty/keeper leagues, I hate having to give up on players, so I try to avoid it if I can. I’m not quite ready to bail on Ball, and would prefer to keep him for the long haul (unless you can find someone willing to pay a good amount for him).
There’s a good amount of risk involved with that option, but I’d prefer to take the risk than ship Ball away for an OK return that might not move the needle for my fantasy team moving forward. As I mentioned before, when Ball is on the court, he’s one of the better fantasy players in the game.
Unless you had a nice core of young players surrounding Ball this season, you likely weren’t one of the top teams in your league. If you fall under that category, I think it makes even more sense to hold out hope that Ball gets things turned around. If you went all out for a title this season and are now staring at a rebuild, it probably makes a little more sense to throw Ball’s name on the trading block and target some younger/healthier talent instead.
Whichever way you decide to go regarding Ball, make sure you really think things through. It’s been frustrating to roster Ball these past couple seasons, but don’t let that cloud your judgment about what Ball is worth in fantasy leagues when healthy. He’s a star, and even if these injuries hold him back from being an all-out superstar, you can’t just give away that kind of talent for nothing.
#injury
