Raptors: How much sense would a blockbuster Lonzo Ball trade make?

The Toronto Raptors need to get deeper and younger if they want to end up in the 2020-21 postseason, meaning that Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster are likely already cooking up a plan to bring in reinforcements. If they plan on going over the top for a big-name acquisition via trade, the New Orleans Pelicans have made two of their more prominent guards in Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick available.

Shams Charania is reporting that the Pelicans have made both the youngster Ball and the veteran Redick available via trade.

With Ball still just 23 years old, amassing the highest points per game average of his career, and in need of an offense that plays at a faster pace than that of New Orleans, the Raptors might be tempted to pull the trigger and make this deal a reality.

Lonzo Ball might be coached out of his flaws with the Toronto Raptors, but he would be a funky fit on this roster

Assuming that both Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet stay put in this trade, Ball might not even crack the starting lineup. Considering how bad he has been on offense, it’s hard to argue for him overtaking one of those two. He is in the middle of a season in which despite logging over 30 minutes per game, he is shooting under 40 percent from the field, below 30 percent from three, and under 60 percent from the foul line.

The only other player to hit those marks, you ask? Ben Wallace in 2007-08. When you’re a guard and your best offensive comparison is a 6-9 center who is regarding as one of the worst shooters of all-time, that’s not a good look. Throw in a high turnover rate, and there are plenty of reasons to stay away.

Even with all of that, there are some positives that Ball would bring to this team. His assist percentage of 21 percent as an off-ball combo guard shows that the court vision that won him so much adulation at UCLA hasn’t faded. Likewise, the 6-6 Ball has become an excellent perimeter defender, capable of guarding elite players and starting a fast break with a well-timed steal.

Ball has had three different coaches in four pro seasons between Luke Walton, Alvin Gentry, and Stan Van Gundy, and all three of them have used him in a different fashion. A quality coach like Nick Nurse could give him some stability in Toronto, and a defined role could help him thrive as a Raptor.

Ball would be a very risky move for Toronto, as trading for him would be adding a point guard that has trouble shooting and avoiding turnovers to a system that asks their ball-handlers to do just that. However, he is still 23, and he’s not being used in the most effective way possible in New Orleans, so there is hope that he could catch fire and reinvent himself on the offensive end in Toronto.

Raptors: Toronto needs a ball handler, not a center

With Terence Davis and Malachi Flynn struggling, the Toronto Raptors need help at the point behind Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet