Lonzo Ball's Summer League spectacle was electric. Packed venues. LeBron James sitting courtside. Every time he touched the ball, the buzzing crowd teetered on eruption. And Ball didn't disappoint. He was named MVP after leading the Lakers to the Summer League title. 

Now that the hype has died down, what does it all mean? Was Ball's performance as promising as it felt? Was it as discouraging as some numbers suggest? Summer League is tricky because a lot of what we see isn't going to consistently transfer to an NBA game. 

Take Ball's professional debut, when the Lakers and Clippers combined for 38 turnovers. It was a mess. Loose balls rolling around. Defenses scattered. Even a few playground-style cherry picks. Summer League often resembles an AAU game with chaotic sequences and sloppy play, which can devolve into shot opportunities not as easily found against a structured, disciplined defense. Ball made 2 of 15 shots in that game. Here's the first:

OK, a nice flying put-back that is athletic and instinctive. But this is really more about the wide-open lane because the entire Clippers team is standing around like statues -- notably Ball's defender on the perimeter and Brice Johnson, who has an unimpeded path to the rebound yet doesn't even jump before Ball flies in. That just will not happen often in an NBA game. It will from time to time, but don't count on this as a consistent source of production for Ball. That's a Summer League bucket.   

The same thing can be said for his second field goal -- the one 3-pointer he hit in 11 attempts: 

It's hard to play more lazy defense, and it won't happen in a regular-season game. First, Ball's defender makes no attempt to navigate a halfhearted ball screen. He doesn't go over the top or go under; he just stands there. Then the screener's man, Johnson (there's that man again); instead of maybe hedging or switching or -- I don't know -- doing anything that would constitute a shred of help defense, he drifts backward as if he's trying not to be an inconvenience. The result is about a six-foot window and all the time in the world for Ball to squeeze off that shot. 

Check it out again at the top of the key:

Breakdowns and lazy defensive plays happen from time to time at every level -- even the NBA. But this was pretty much the standard defense on Ball in Vegas, particularly out of ball screens. The cushions were something Rajon Rondo might see. And still Ball shot less than 24 percent from 3-point range and less than 40 percent overall. 

Let's set the numbers aside; it's too small a sample to read much into them. We're here assess whether plays made by Ball in the Summer League will translate when he faces the best players in the world. Through that lens, let's look at some of what Ball showed us in Las Vegas that we can count on seeing come next season in Los Angeles. 

Passing

Ball was predictably skilled in setting others up. He can scan the court and process the next play before everyone else. He gets the ball out of his hands quickly, pushing it ahead with the pass -- even after makes. Stephen Curry does this a lot with the Warriors. Sometimes it gets Klay Thompson a quick-trigger 3 before the defense is set. Sometimes it merely keeps the tempo high and everyone involved. These quick advances are playing more and more in NBA games. And Ball makes them as well, and as willingly, as anyone. 

Again, these are simple passes, but few players -- whether for lack of awareness or willingness to give up the ball -- make them consistently. Ball does it as a matter of habit. He is constantly looking to attack as a passer, not unlike a shooter seeking shots. And he'll pull the trigger from anywhere. To that point, he had a number of full-court connections in Vegas, and his ability to drop these well-timed bombs with precision is uncanny. 

Will this play in NBA games? Absolutely. These passes won't be as readily available, but Ball's teammates are going to know to run because he always will be looking for them, and they'll connect on plenty of these deep balls. 

More often, of course, Ball will do his best work in the open court and early offense. We didn't need to see this in Summer League for validation, but it was certainly on display. 

Lakers bigs are going to love spoon feeds like this:  

Here he is with a John Wall-like hard drive and dish -- maybe the most NBA-ready play we saw from Ball in Vegas:

People, that right there will play in any NBA game, and there are two reasons why Ball should be able to replicate that play night in and night out. The first is because he's a terrific passer. The second brings us to our next point of analysis.

Attacking to finish

Those drop-off passes we just watched work because Ball makes defenses honor his ability to finish. When he's attacking, defenders have to commit to him as a scorer. If they don't, he is not married to the pass. He can, and will, take it to the rim and finish. On this next play, notice how the rotating big stays planted, perhaps because Ball is quicker to the rim than defenders realize and he's late, or because he's anticipating Ball will pass:

That's the value of having a mentality to finish strong yourself. Ball goes hard at the rim until the defense forces him to change his mind. That's instinctual basketball. Here's Ball doing the same thing with a head of steam, putting the defender on his heels before exploding by him with an inside-out dribble, a la Russell Westbrook:

Again, these plays are the reason strong finishers like Wall and Westbrook create point-blank opportunities for teammates, because they're such a threat to score that defenders will disregard the backside. Ball isn't a power finisher (like Wall or Westbrook), but he did show that he can finish through contact:

More often, Ball will be a finesse, spin-doctor finisher in the mold of Curry or Kyrie Irving, which can be just as effective. It doesn't get much more creative around the rim than this:

These are NBA plays, and Ball looks natural executing them. When people say he "feels" the game, this is what they mean. He feels when to pass and when to finish himself. He not only knows where teammates are on the floor, but also where they're going to be one or two beats ahead. 

So what have we learned so far? He's going to pass like a wizard (we already knew this) and he showed ability as a finisher. Which brings us to probably the most questioned part of Ball's game -- beyond his defense (true of many rookies, and we can address that at another time).

Shooting

Most questions surrounding his shooting center on the half court. Can he create space for himself against set, pressure defenses? Can he get that funky shot off under duress? Can he develop any kind of mid-range game? From what we saw in Vegas, the answer to these questions is yes -- if he can develop consistency. 

This pull-up 3 with a defender crowding him is elite stuff:

Most of Ball's success as a shooter comes when he's set for a catch and shoot, or when he can square up a defender up (and square up himself) with the dribble, but this next shot is proof that he can rise up quickly off movement:

That shot plays against any defense, but notice how Ball was moving left when he pulled up? That's an important detail. He looks more comfortable pulling up when he goes left because of his unusual delivery. When he's going right -- off a ball-screen or a catch-and-shoot -- rising up is not natural because his sidewinder form brings the ball back to his left and into a trailing defender. It's awkward, as evidenced here when forced into a pull-up with the shot clock winding down:

Compare that to the comfort of this shot, going left off the dribble:

That's a much more fluid release, obviously. Unless Ball changes his form, he's going to have more limited options in his pull-up game going right. That said, he's creative and showed he has ways to compensate, one of which could be this sweet little runner going to his right -- a much easier shot going that way because he's pushing it rather than having to go against his momentum with that awkward form. 

This is an especially encouraging sign because Ball didn't do much of from the mid-range in his season at UCLA. Runners were even more infrequent. It's a shot NBA guards need in their bag, and Ball clearly has been working on it. That's a really encouraging shot to see go down for him. 

All in all, it was a really strong Summer League for Ball. The thought that he could become an elite passer perhaps has even more validity, and even though the shooting numbers were down, a lot of that can be attributed to that 2-of-15 debut. The important thing is he looked more comfortable every game. There were signs he can make shots he'll need to make against NBA defenses. And if he can do that, given his ability to create for himself and others, he may have a shot to live up to the hype after all.