NBA Draft 2020: Shakeup among frontcourt players in January mock draft

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 21: Trendon Watford #2 and Emmitt Williams #5 of the LSU Tigers defend Onyeka Okongwu #21 of the USC Trojans as he grabs a rebound in the second half of the game at Staples Center on December 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball of the Hawks (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /

No. 2 Atlanta Hawks – LaMelo Ball, 6’8″ 180lbs, PG, Illwara Hawks

Despite being sidelined by an injury, Ball’s potential holds him in a position to be taken at the top of the draft and form an explosive scoring attack with Trae Young.

Let’s get weird. LaMelo Ball on the Hawks probably doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s clear that Trae Young is the point guard of the future, Kevin Huerter should develop into at least a formidable shooting guard, and they just drafted DeAndre Hunter as their wing of the future.

Nevertheless, the Hawks can get wild and go with the ultimate boom or bust pick in LaMelo Ball. A backcourt pairing of Young and Ball has the potential to turn into a glorious array of dynamite passing, deep three-point shooting, and an all-out blitz of aggression on the offensive. Of course, the flip side is they don’t mesh and the team can’t stop a nose bleed on the defensive end.

Atlanta may as well try to strike gold with Ball. No. 2 is probably too high to be taking one of the top bigs in the draft (unless they are firm believers in James Wiseman) and Ball has a higher ceiling than anyone else who is on the board at this point.

Worst case scenario, things don’t work out and Atlanta is forced to move on from Ball in return for future assets. Best case scenario, Atlanta creates a backcourt unlike anything we’ve seen before and Ball helps them ascend towards the top half of the Eastern Conference.

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