Unnamed exec: LaMelo Ball has potential to be No. 1 overall pick

LaMelo Ball has kept a relatively low profile since joining Australia's Illawarra Hawks for the 2019-20 season. However, rumblings about the youngest Ball brother's progress have started to reach North America - and the early reviews are apparently stellar.

If one anonymous NBA executive is to believed, LaMelo has a realistic shot at besting older brother Lonzo Ball's own lofty slot - No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Lakers - when he becomes draft-eligible next summer.

"If he keeps this up, I don't see any way (LaMelo) isn't in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick," the executive told ESPN's Jonathan Givony at the NBL Blitz preseason tournament in Tasmania. "He completely changed my perception of the type of prospect he is, and all of the background info I gathered here from his coaches and teammates paint a very different story of what I thought about him off the court as well."

With his strong showing Down Under, Ball is quickly erasing memories of his ill-fated time spent with Lithuanian side BC Prienai in early 2018, where he and his other brother LiAngelo struggled to integrate into the pro team while their father, LaVar, butted heads with the team's management and coaching staff.

"(LaMelo) plays with incredible pace," another unnamed NBA scout told Givony. "He's never sped up. He's never rattled by anything that's thrown at him. You're expecting something magical to happen every time he has the ball. He sees everything. He can make every pass with either hand off a live dribble. His style of play is tailor-made for the NBA game, especially if you surround him with shooting and better finishers."

Only time will tell if LaMelo can continue to deliver on the immense hype surrounding his NBA prospects.