Jayson Tatum Outperforming Lonzo Ball Over First Three Weeks

There was little question as to whether the Lakers were going to select Lonzo Ball with the second pick in last June’s draft. However, third overall pick Jayson Tatum has been the better of the two so far.

When the Boston Celtics schedule was first released, fans immediately circled November 8 on their calendars.

This would be the day that point guard Lonzo Ball, perhaps the most scrutinized rookie of the past decade, would make his TD Garden debut. The first episode of the new Celtics-Lakers rivalry would hit the Parquet.

Through the first ten games of the season, Ball has not been the awe-dropping showman that we anticipated. Aside from a 29-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist blowup in the second game of his career against a then-imploding Phoenix Suns team, Ball has been underwhelming.

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He has compiled a double-digit game score just once since that Lakers win in Phoenix, and has not even been the best rookie on his own team. That distinction would belong to small forward Kyle Kuzma, who has carried his Summer League success into the season with averages of 15.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game with an effective field goal percentage of 62.1 percent.

Ball has struggled to adjust to the professional game, especially on the scoring front, something that Celtics rook Jayson Tatum has not had an issue with. Per 36 minutes, Tatum has averaged 16.2 points with an effective field goal percentage of 58.8 percent and an offensive rating of 120. Ball on the other hand, has posted just 9.6 points per the same time frame, accompanying this with an effective field goal percentage of 34.6 percent and an offensive rating of 84.

The eldest Ball brother has had four games this season in which his game score failed to reach four. Tatum, meanwhile, has notched double digit game scores in seven of the 11 games that the Celtics have played, with his lowest being a 5.8 game score in the team’s second game of the season.

Against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, Ball went 3-for-15 against former Laker D’Angelo Russell, owner of a 110 defensive rating. One night earlier in Portland, Ball played 28 minutes yet took just two shots, failing to score a single point.

This is not to say that Ball has been a complete disappointment thus far. His 7.5 assists per 36 minutes reflects that his “Jason Kidd-like” passing eye has translated to the NBA game. Ball has also ushered in defensive improvements in Los Angeles. His defensive rating of 103 while facing point guards such as John Wall and Kyle Lowry has allowed the Lakers to improve their defensive efficiency rating from 110.6, the worst mark in the NBA in 2016-17, to 101.2, the seventh-best in the league this season.

However, Tatum’s defensive rating of 99 has impressed even further as he has helped morph the Celtics into the premier defensive team in the league. Boston’s 95.9 defensive efficiency rating is by far the best in the NBA as only three other teams have ratings below 100.

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While Ball’s skill level is undeniable, he will have to up his overall averages if the Lakers wish to hover around the .500 mark in a dangerous Western Conference. Tatum, meanwhile, has appeared as the best prospect in the 2017 draft thus far.

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