LaMelo Ball Odds to Be No. 1 Pick in 2020 NBA Draft Continue Rising After Injury Cuts Short Season in Australia

LaMelo Ball's basketball career in Australia has come to an end. It was announced on Thursday that the youngest Ball brother will focus on rehab for the next six weeks, which would carry him through the end of the NBL season.

LaMelo's draft stock has continued to rise over the past few months as he's put up fantastic numbers in Australia, which has one of the more respected pro leagues outside of the United States. He has been a consensus lottery pick for a long time now, but his name began to creep into the No. 1 overall pick conversation near the end of the summer.

LaMelo Ball's last 5 games before going down due to injury: 23.2 PTS, 9.0 REBS, 8.4 AST, 1.6 STL, 2.8 TOV in 33 MIN while shooting 48% from 2, 30% from 3 and 71% from the FT line. https://t.co/7ikzr9vDfw
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) January 16, 2020

At the beginning of October, LaMelo's odds to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft were +420. Those odds had improved to +380 by the start of December. Today, they have gotten even better, now sitting at +350, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

It's unknown at this time what type of draft prep LaMelo will go through or if he will attend the NBA Scouting Combine, but with no more organized basketball planned for him between now and the draft, there may be little chance for LaMelo to work on improving his odds.

LaMelo Ball's incredible passing ability on full display @NBL ?? @MeloD1P pic.twitter.com/dLWj5v9vqm
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 10, 2020

That's not to say they can't improve from here, but we do know it won't be from his play. The two players who remain ahead of Ball in the odds are Anthony Edwards (+100) and James Wiseman (+120). Wiseman is in a similar boat to LaMelo, after cutting short his collegiate career amidst an NCAA violation to focus on draft prep. North Carolina's Cole Anthony trails LaMelo slightly in odds, sitting at +380.

While this seems like a four-man race as of now, depending on how the lottery breaks out, it shouldn't be a shock to anyone if LaMelo Ball is the first name Adam Silver announces on draft night in June.

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David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.