Do you take LaMelo Ball or James Wiseman?
NBA Draft James Wiseman. Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images
The seasons of LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman are over after a combined 15 games, so it’s up to NBA teams to decide who to take at the top of the NBA Draft.
Unlike last year, the NBA Draft doesn’t have a clear-cut No. 1 pick, nor does it have a clear-cut No. 2. At this point, it looks like three players are unanimously considered to be the top three prospects in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Two of those players, LaMelo Ball and James Wiseman, will not play another game prior to the NBA Draft.
Ball, who played for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia’s National Basketball League, suffered a bone bruise on his foot during practice. With the Hawks’ regular season concluding on Feb. 14, Ball has decided to end his season and get healthy for the draft.
As the 2019 No. 1 high school recruit according to ESPN.com, Wiseman joined the Memphis Tigers as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. After playing just three games, he decided to leave Memphis because of the 12-game suspension given to him Nov. 8 by the NCAA. Now, he’s preparing for the NBA Draft on his own, similarly to Mitchell Robinson in 2018.
Three games from Wiseman and 12 from Ball are all NBA teams get to evaluate before the NBA Draft Combine — if the two participate.
It’s likely that the two will remain in the top three of the draft, but who is preferred? And who should be? The creative, 6-foot-7 Ball or the long, shot-blocking Wiseman?
