New Orleans Pelicans: Is Lonzo Ball worth $20 million a season?

New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels should offer Lonzo Ball a max extension

The argument for re-signing Lonzo Ball to a max deal for around $20 million a season is simple: He is good now, is only 23-years-old and is likely to get even better.

The Pels could get all of his prime years and it may look like a discount if Lonzo continues to improve. If you look at what the 3rd-best players on good teams generally make, $20 million is pretty much the minimum wage.

In fact, when you take a look at some of the guys making at or near $20 million a season, the argument for re-signing Lonzo Ball gets even stronger.

Point guards like Fred VanVleet, Malcolm Brogdon, Terry Rozier, Goran Dragic, and Ricky Rubio all make at or around that salary and are all significantly older than Lonzo Ball with far less upside. Other than Brogdon and maybe VanVleet you could argue that Lonzo Ball is already better than everyone on this list.

Shooting guards like Gary Harris and even Lonzo’s teammate Eric Bledsoe will be right under $20 million, which makes Lonzo Ball’s case even stronger.

Look, $20 million isn’t what it used to be and this is now the minimum wage for guys like Lonzo, who can be the third-best player on a good team and have All-Star potential.

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to need a third star to go along with Zion and Ingram and Lonzo can be that guy.

The question is whether they can afford him to be.