The aforementioned Williams also mentioned how “the injury bug is a bit of concern.” Ball is young, so he should be able to have a quicker recovery time than older veterans. He’s only 20 years old, which could be a good or bad sign, depending on how one looks at it. He missed 30 games last season for the Lakers.

At the beginning of the year, he missed six games with a shoulder injury. Then Ball missed games due to a minor MCL sprain in the middle of the season, and also from a knee contusion toward the tail end of the year, per Chris Barnewall of CBS Sports. That led to the Lakers shutting Ball down for the final nine games of the season. While the shoulder issue was not a big deal, it’s clear that his left knee could be a problem going forward.

After the season ended, he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, according to Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. Charania then noted, “Ball is expected to be ready for the start of the season, league sources said.”

The fact still remains with him, though. For the way that Ball plays, and with how L.A.’s young pieces excel when they can push the pace, his left knee (and other areas) must get stronger.

With how James takes care of his body, that should aid Ball in his recovery and future injury prevention. For the Lakers to be at their best, their 2017 second overall pick needs to be on the floor. Ball has much more potential as a scorer than Rondo has, and projects better in positionless basketball as a 6’6″ point guard. For his third area of improvement, it would be nice to see him take advantage of his height more against smaller guards.

Next Up: Improvement Area 1