Gaze has praised Ball for his commanding performance as he guided Illawarra to a 114-106 win over Cairns Taipans in overtime on Monday night in Wollongong.

The 18-year-old became the youngest player in NBL history to achieve a triple-double. Ball drained 32 points and had 13 assists and 11 rebounds.

Gaze, who commentated the game for the NBL, told the Mercury that Ball's performance had shown his potential to be a No.1 pick.

"He was always at a level where he was going to be draft. He's going to get that opportunity, he's going to be a high draft pick," he said.

"I was one that wasn't, and I'm still not quite sure, whether he's going to be a No.1 pick. But based on his skills set and what he's doing in our league at only 18 years of age, I think he's absolutely in that conversation. Whether you're No.1 or No.5... it sometimes really comes down to the draft order and what teams are specifically looking for. You only have to look at Luka Doncic [Dallas Mavericks], he was pick No.5. If you go back to that [2018] draft and had to re-draft it, I dare say he would be No.1.

"But really, if you're in that top five - I'm not going to say it doesn't matter - I don't think he's going to lose sleep if he's No.1 or No.5. You're still highly regarded with enormous potential."

See more: Ball creates NBL history, fires Hawks to overtime win over Cairns

Not everything went to plan for Ball on Monday night. The young guard finished with a field goal percentage of 55 per cent and nailed four three-pointers from seven attempts.

However, the teen delivered when the Hawks needed it most. Trailing by three points with five seconds left, Ball drained a shot from beyond the arc to send the contest into overtime. And the rest, as they say, is history.

"It was one of the truly great individual performances of the season," Gaze said.

"You'd have to go a long way to see an 18-year-old anywhere in the world be able to perform at that level. If you go back in the history of the NBL, it would rank really highly in the context of his age, where he's at in his development and the hype around him. It was brilliant.

"He absolutely delivered on his potential. What he did [against Cairns] was make timely baskets, shot the three-ball and ran the team. You can pick holes in anyone, and there's certainly some areas that he still needs to work on, but there are some things that are hard to teach and he has many of those factors: the way he sees the floor, his size and his understanding of the game.

"The thing I've noticed is the rapid improvement he's made in his game. Each game, he seems to be growing... he listens, he's prepared to learn. All of those things speak volumes of him. Hopefully that will become a very important part of his history when, in 20 years' time, we look back at one of the all-time great players of the NBA. That time here will be very significant in his development."

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