Raptors: LaMelo Ball is about to show Toronto what they desperately need

Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors are fighting with LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets for playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, but these two teams are built in almost completely different ways. While Toronto has built their roster through player development and leaning on experienced vets, Charlotte has leaned into their teenage wonderkind’s skillset.

Drafted third overall in the 2021 draft, Ball is starting to run away with the Rookie of the Year award, as he has become one of the game’s flashiest passers and most consistent young triple-double threats.

Since a January 30 win against the Bucks, Ball has been averaging 20.2 points per game, all the while pulling down 6.1 rebounds per game, dishing 6.9 assists per contest, and shooting 44% from 3-point range. As good as the Raptors are, Ball plays with a pizzazz that the current squad simply doesn’t have.

Be it through the draft, overpaying in free agency, or a Kawhi Leonard-esque trade, the Raptors need to find a way to replicate what Charlotte has unearthed in Ball. Toronto has size, shooting, and playoff experience, but Ball’s magnetic presence is exactly what this current Raptors team lacks.

LaMelo Ball has the star power the Raptors lack

Don’t let the signing of Gordon Hayward fool you. Charlotte is by no means a huge NBA market, and they certainly can’t fall back on a history of winning. However, thanks to Ball, the Hornets have become must-see TV, and they could be major free agency players again given the Ball-centric core and weak division.

Lowry is a Hall of Famer, Pascal Siakam is one of the best power forwards in the game, and Fred VanVleet is even capable of scoring 54 points in a single game. What can be more flashy than scoring 54 in a game? While their style of play is certainly effective, it might not help them land stars on the open market.

The Raptors have built a culture and ethos surrounded around a bunch of underestimated players banding together, not trying to win press conferences with quotes, and trying to achieve a common goal, while a superstar like Lowry or Leonard serves as the catalyst that helps the team take flight in the postseason.

However, with Lowry and Norman Powell both potentially leaving as free agents in the offseason, that foundation could easily buckle out from under them. Unless they’ve got a player like Ball coming down the block, the Raptors could be in for some lean years not unlike what happened when Chris Bosh and Vince Carter left.

A flashy star like LaMelo Ball would help the Raptors

Toronto is one of the most difficult markets in terms of convincing stars to sign long-term contracts there. On top of the very high taxes and cold winter weather, the idea of playing in Canada and taking on all of the trappings that come with it isn’t very attractive to most American players.

Playing alongside a young star like Ball that orchestrates some of the most entertaining basketball, however, might be enough of an incentive for some free agents to potentially take the plunge. With the Raptors’ foundation over the last few seasons potentially crumbling this offseason, they need to find a player with Ball’s gravitational pull as soon as possible.

The Raptors know what a star like Ball can bring, as Vince Carter, who is twice the star Ball will ever be, singlehandedly put Canadian basketball on the map. The culture around the Raptors is solid, but they need to replicate Charlotte’s team-building model if they want to keep pace in the East.