LaVar Barr Already Posturing For Where He Does, Does Not Want LaMelo Playing

The NBA has yet to settle on a date for its draft but LaVar Ball is already making headlines trying to guide his son to a preferred spot. Will be able to meddle and annoy his way into making things go his way, again?

That will be a storyline to watch as the NBA Draft Lottery landed teams in a very interesting order and one that could impact where top prospect LaMelo Ball begins his playing career.

LaVar told the Say Less With Kaz podcast that he doesn’t want his son going as the second pick to the Golden State Warriors.

"They got Klay and the other guys and now you want to put Melo in that mix to say you got to follow these guys," LaVar said. "Melo ain’t no follower."

He also made it clear that his preference was the New York Knicks. That may be a stretch without a trade as the Knicks draft No. 8.

Minnesota came away with the top pick but its roster has D’Angelo Russell locked in at the point. Teaming with Karl Anthony-Townes and other forwards on the roster, it could open up the top pick for Georgia guard Anthony Edwards. It is a natural fit for the player and the roster.

Golden State, in theory, could use a pure point guard. The Warriors have used Stephen Curry there through most of his career but that feels more like a situation that emerged because of having Klay Thompson at shooting guard and Kevin Durant at small forward.

LaMelo could slide in at point guard – as was the plan for D’Angelo Russell before that experiment failed and he was shipped to Minnesota – or he could run the second unit. That would certainly be a proposition sure to upset the elder Ball.

For the sake of debate, assume the Warriors do not want to deal with this headache, and don’t trade down, but simply select James Wiseman as an athletic big to improve its roster and take some pressure off of Draymond Green on the interior of the defense.

The third pick in the draft is the Charlotte Hornets.

It has second-year guard Devonte’ Graham at the position and saw the Kansas product make a major jump in his development with an 18.2 ppg and 7.5 apg year. As nice as that was for the Hornets it could also been a false positive.The team battled a lack of depth at guard, forcing Graham into playing over 35 minutes per game. If the group views Ball as an upgrade, allowing Graham to slide into a sixth man role, he would absolutely go here.

If Charlotte passes, and doesn’t trade, Chicago follows. Its uninspiring group of Tomas Satoransky, Ryan Arcidacono, and Kris Dunn at point guard, would make Ball a logical pick here.

Cleveland and Atlanta at fifth and sixth, respectively, wouldn’t need Ball with their current roster composition of Darius Garland and Trey Young playing the position.

Detroit, like Chicago, has a terrible group of point guards. It saw Derrick Rose lead its pack last year and with the Pistons picking ahead of New York, it would take LaMelo on the totally off-chance that he slid this far.

With the list of teams ahead of New York needing a point guard it is unlikely that he naturally lands there.

Interestingly, Ball did not want his other son, Lonzo, to go to the Warriors in 2017, when he was going through the draft process.

He said then: "Steph Curry's pretty good," to TMZ Sports. "My son is young; he's got time to grow. And you only consider him good because he's won a couple championships. … He makes some shots at the right time. But he's not as young as my boy.”

At the time, Ball was also launching his Big Baller Brand of shoes and apparel. He was an outspoken, if not obnoxious part of the process, and many writer’s wandered aloud if the helicopter parenting would be a problem.

Lonzo has since been traded to New Orleans, and despite rumors that he may be on the block, he has been a pretty good player for the team. He has not been as good as players drafted after him, namely Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox and Donovan Mitchell, among others.

If the Knicks are able to secure the services of LeMelo, putting the Balls in the Big Apple, the disfunction would be a match made in media paradise.

LaMelo averaged 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists while playing for Illawarra in Australia last season.