Ball's strengths, weaknesses on full display in win over Bulls

Lonzo Ball can't shoot consistently in the NBA right now. Whether it's his wonky stroke or, as he calls it, nerves, he's an abysmal shooter at the moment. With Tuesday's 3-for-13 outing in the Los Angeles Lakers' 103-94 win over the Chicago Bulls, he's shooting 30.7 percent from the floor on the season. His effective field-goal percentage is now 35.6 percent.

If his historically bad shooting season continues - he's yet to shoot 40 percent in back-to-back games - there will be debate as to whether he does enough elsewhere to mitigate such a significant weakness.

Ball sat the entire fourth quarter in two of his last five games because Luke Walton couldn't find a place for him. On Tuesday, he entered the fourth at 6:49 of the period and immediately keyed the 23-7 run that won the game with a trey - three of his eight total points. It would be one of two total shots he took in the frame.

The youthful Lakers are a work in progress. Tasking Ball with taking over games late isn't necessary - yet - and they've got other talented youngsters who also need to figure out learning curves down the stretch. On Tuesday, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stepped up, although the latter received this outlet from Ball.

Ball finished the game plus-14, second only to Caldwell-Pope's plus-23.

And that's the paradox right now with Ball. He whips tracer-beam passes all over the court and corrals rebounds incredibly well for his position, but he's not respected as a shooter. Many of his looks this season have been open, and he's just missing them - often badly.

Do empty-calorie triple-doubles matter if, as noted by ESPN's Kevin Pelton, you are having one of the least efficient scoring seasons of all time?

Ultimately, no, but it's because this is a developing Lakers team that probably isn't going to the playoffs. Ball remains under the microscope because of his name, his city, and the era in which we live. Rookie point guards often struggle. It's just jarring to see such bad shooting from a player who was good at it in college.