LaMelo Ball is so strong-minded, he didn’t openly co-sign what his opinionated father, LaVar, said about three-time NBA champion Golden State being a good fit for him.

“My old man, he is his own man,” the youngest Ball brother said. “He has his opinions. I have mine.”

His skill set and abilities gives him the confidence to reject comparisons to other NBA players.

“I really don’t compare myself to nobody,” Ball said. “I feel like I’m myself.”

Yet this 6-7 gifted talent with scoring and playmaking ability repeatedly said during Monday’s 25-minute Zoom media interview he can blend with any team that selects him in the Nov. 18 NBA Draft.

“The winning aspect, I feel like with any team, I can play,” he said. “Put the best five out there, I can play.”

Ball could go first overall to Minnesota. No lower than fifth, but he’ll should be gone by the time Phoenix picks 10th. The Suns haven’t talked to him, he says, as they have their starting point guard in veteran Ricky Rubio.

The team that drafts Ball will likely start him at the one from Day 1. He’s talented enough to play another position, but Ball wants to orchestrate the show.

“Point guard,” said Ball when asked what position he could play to best utilize his talents.

There still will be point guard prospects out there – if that’s the direction the Suns want to go.

While Phoenix could develop a talent under Rubio and have him ready to start in a couple of years, the franchise may have a greater need at the four position.

Arizona big Zeke Nnaji and Maryland big Jalen Smith said Monday the Suns have already interviewed them as players are having Zoom meetings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

If Phoenix doesn’t trade up or down – or just trade the pick in a package with a player – and select a point guard at 10, Ball will probably won’t be there to take, but Killian Hayes might be.

Hayes was born in Florida, but he grew up in France as his dad, DeRon, who played at Penn State, put in pro-ball work overseas. His son has grown into a 6-5 point guard, who like Ball, is also a lottery prospect.

“Coming in, I can have an impact right away with my experience,” Hayes said. “I know the game and I can really adjust to any setting and have an impact right away.”

Hayes said the Suns haven’t talked to him, either, but he could see himself playing with All-Star Devin Booker.

“I feel like a team like this that has a great scorer, just trying to make the game easier for him,” Hayes said. “A scorer like Devin Booker. Just trying to make the game easier for him.”

Hayes said he’d like to play with a big who can catch lobs and be surrounded by shooters.

“I feel like a lot of players fit into those categories,” he said.

The Suns have a few of those types.

Deandre Ayton catches lobs.

Booker, Cam Johnson and Mikal Bridges knock down 3s.

They Suns also have someone who can deliver lobs to dunkers and pocket passes to shooters, Rubio, but Hayes could learn from him and be a better, more athletic version in the future.

Hayes still is a work in progress. He admits to having defensive lapses and being turnover-prone, but he’s talented, has size and a great upside. He feels he can play the one or two on offense and take advantage of the NBA style of play.

“The spacing on the floor with court being way bigger and having the three seconds (in the paint) on defense,” Hayes said. “Here, people can just clog the lane and just stay in there. In the NBA, the lane is almost always open. I feel like that’s really going to help me and my game.”  

Hayes feels he can guard all three perimeter positions, too. With that mixture of needing development and having the potential to be great, Hayes is in improvement mode going into the draft.

“I’m working on everything, especially my body, because everybody knows the NBA got the best athletes in the world,” Hayes said. “So, coming in physically ready and also working on every part of my game. This season, I was on the ball a lot, so I’m working a lot on like coming off screens.”

Ball may become frustrated playing a backup role, but because he’s so talented, Ball could play off the ball on the floor with Rubio and run the show when Rubio is on the bench.

“Get guys going,” Ball said. “Passing the ball. Outlets. Just any little thing,”

Living a celebrity lifestyle can be cause for concern for a franchise looking to use a high draft pick on a player. Ball gave the impression that NBA teams are trying to find out who he really is in interviews.

“It’s a whole lot of stuff out there,” he said. “You won’t even know if it’s me or not.”

Clarification?

“All of the stuff in the media and stuff on how I am,” Ball said. “(NBA teams) pretty much want to know.”  

Hayes appears to be more reserved, a quality that could work to his advantage in moving up the draft ladder. Then again, Ball may be more prepared to handle all the pressure that comes with being an NBA player as he’s grown up in the spotlight.

Both have professional international experience. Ball took his lumps in Lithuania in 2018 as he was only 16 years old, but he played much better in the Australia National Basketball League before shutting down in January after suffering a bone bruise in his left foot.

Beyond that, the experiences away from home seemed to have grounded Ball. The young, 92-point gun from Chino Hills, California, has been working out in Detroit since spring to prepare for the draft.

“I feel like everything I did led me to who I am today,” Ball said. “I’m grateful for it. Thankful. I feel like it all just helped.”

Turning 19 years old last month, Ball essentially played one season overseas when counting the number of games. Hayes is the same age as he turned 19 in July. He turned pro at age 16, but Hayes has more overall and consistent experience as a professional basketball player.

That gives him the edge in pro experience over Ball and certainly will help him adjust to the NBA.

“Two seasons ago, I was struggling really, so it really was a season I had to prove to everybody I can make it to the NBA,” said Hayes in talking about his final season overseas. “I learned a lot from it.”

Before landing Rubio in free agency last summer, Phoenix was in desperate need for a point guard while having its second-worst season in franchise history. That’s when LaVar Ball said the Suns would win “a championship” if his three sons formed like Voltron in the Valley.

Lonzo Ball would wind up in New Orleans as part the blockbuster deal that sent Anthony Davis to Los Angeles to join LeBron James. The Lakers are now in the NBA finals and Ball is with the youthful Pelicans who fired their head coach, Alvin Gentry, after crumbling in the Orlando Bubble.

LiAngelo Ball agreed to join the Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League team, but the G League season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.

No telling where he’ll be whenever the 2020-21 season starts.

It also isn’t clear which direction Phoenix will go in the draft. The Suns could move it in a variety of directions or stay pat at 10.

If they select a point guard, Ball is considered the better player, but Hayes may very well be the better fit for the Suns.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.