LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, and injuries to first-round caliber players
Top prospect LaMelo Ball has not played for his Australian team, the Illawarra Hawks in over a month. While his foot has healed, he will not play for the rest of the season. While many teams have questions about his defense, it is clear that his scoring and passing abilities make him a unique player. Ball is such an anomaly because so many teams haven’t had ample opportunities to evaluate him. Personally, I’m left wondering how his meteoric rise even happened.
There might not be a player who has boosted his stock more in the past year than Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton. A tall, lead guard has played exceptionally despite their 9-9 record. This is continued from being a catalyst on the USA U19 team en route to a gold medal in the U19 World Cup. He plays with excellent pace and has an advanced level of passing. His shot takes a little while to get off, but his 41% 3-Point Percentage has shown good results.
The Injury Bug
Cole Anthony’s team, UNC, continues to struggle without him. While the team has had other injuries, and considering his spectacular play, perhaps there is a correlation. This can speak to the way Anthony can effect the game, not just in the box score, but in the win-loss column. I see this boosting Anthony’s winning pedigree. We’ll see what happens to the team when he comes back. They certainly have an uphill battle to make the NCAA Tournament. Sign me up for a top 3 pick if he manages to will them there.
For the second year in a row, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer has suffered a severe injury. This time, it’s the SEC’s leading scorer. Aaron Nesmith went from an afterthought as a freshman to a potential first round pick. Due in large part to his ability to score at all three levels and particularly shoot the three. He has such a high floor because at minimum he projects as a solid 3&D player.
Jack's 2020 NBA Draft Blog 
Hey Jack,
Ball is by far the most intriguing prospect to me for so many reasons. Like you said, there is such limited film of him and he has not played in a lot of big games in his life. It also seems like it is a pretty bad draft in general, so between the family hype and that fact alone, he could go No. 1 when all is said and done. Wing scorers are beyond necessary in the modern NBA, and he definitely resembles that.
–Ryan Lacey
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Jack, as a former Iowa State student and fan of Ohio State who played UNC, it is interesting to see how pronounced these injuries are appearing this year from the perspective of a fan and opponent. I agree that Anthony makes a drastically positive impact for UNC, yet I am curious to see what his performances would be if not injured. Will an NBA team really bank on his talent without a solid amount of game tape? What do you believe are the reasons behind these injuries outside of just bad bounces and them all occurring at the same time within a season?
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