Lonzo Ball had an inconsistent season for the New Orleans Pelicans before he heads into restricted free agency.
When Lonzo was rolling, he looked like an All-Star, a guy who could be the 3rd piece behind Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
Lonzo was the Pelicans’ best long-range shooter, played versatile and often very good defense and was a plus playmaker in transition.
There was a stretch during February and March where Lonzo was playing the best basketball of his career and it looked like the Pels would be foolish not to re-sign him.
But then he got hurt, and his season became a roller coaster, with big nights flanked by awful ones, which led some to question if he is really a foundational piece of this team.
Here are Lonzo’s best and worst games, which show just how wildly he fluctuated from night to night.
New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball’s best game of the season
Lonzo Ball had a lot of strong games and ended up with five double-doubles and one triple-double while narrowly missing several more.
But his best game came on May 1st in a must-win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, where Lonzo Ball scored 33 points, added 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals while hitting 8-of-17 from behind the arc.
These are the types of games that make you think Lonzo Ball can be a star, as he was the best player on the floor and carried the shorthanded Pelicans to victory.
Unfortunately, this game was flanked by two of his worst games of the season, including his worst, which came the very next night.
New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball’s worst game of the season
Lonzo Ball probably had worse games than the one against the Warriors on May 3rd, but there was a lot at stake and he was awful.
Lonzo did end up with a decent stat line of seven points, seven rebounds and eight assists, but he also turned the ball over four times and shot just 1-of-9 from long range.
The Pelicans were still right in the mix for the play-in tournament at this point and this was the biggest game of their season and Lonzo Ball couldn’t knock down a shot on a night when they desperately needed his 3-point shooting to help carry them.
Considering what was at stake, and the fact that he scored 33 the game before, this was not only his worst game but also the most disappointing, as Pels’ fans were still hoping for the team to make a run at the playoffs.
It was a frustrating season for Lonzo Ball and the New Orleans Pelicans and it will be interesting to see how it affects his future contract.