New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball’s surge isn’t just about 3-pointers

Lonzo Ball is playing the best basketball of his career for the New Orleans Pelicans and is helping to give the team new life.

This surge has largely come through red-hot shooting from behind-the-arc, as Lonzo is shooting 52.9 percent from 3-point range over the last 12 games, bringing him up to 39.1 percent overall, the best of his career.

This is a huge improvement for a guy who came into the league with a broken shot that many thought could not be fixed.

Lonzo is evolving into the exact type of player the New Orleans Pelicans need to have around Zion Williamson, as he can defend multiple spots and stretch the floor with his shooting.

Lonzo Ball’s continued improvement from the 3-point line has gotten a lot of attention but he is also slowly making strides in another area that is probably his biggest weakness.

New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball is shooting and making more free throws

One area where Lonzo Ball needed huge improvement coming into the season was free-throw shooting.

Lonzo is just a 52.6 career free-throw shooter, a number that puts him with guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Andre Drummond, two of the worst free-throw shooters in the history of the league.

Not only that, but Lonzo Ball was only shooting just over one a game, which is unacceptable for a point guard with his size.

Though Lonzo is not handling the ball as much this season, he has still improved his attempts (slightly) and raised his average to 74.3 percent, still not great but a huge leap from last season’s 56.6 percent.

He has been especially good in the month of February, getting to the line 23 times after only taking THREE FREE-THROWS in the entire month of January.

Lonzo is still not getting to the line enough but hopefully this February is a sign of things to come, as it has coincided with the Pelicans’ having the best offense in the league over that span.

Lonzo Ball will probably never be a guy who gets to the line 7-8 times a game, but if he can continue to get there more often while knocking down a higher percentage, it raises the ceiling of what he can be.

Lonzo needs to keep being aggressive when he sees opportunities and to use his size to bully smaller guards, something that should happen tonight against Detroit.

Lonzo still has work to do but he is rounding himself into a very good all-around player who the New Orleans Pelicans are going to find hard not to re-sign to the max in the offseason.