LiAngelo Ball has officially declared for the 2018 NBA Draft according to Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania. The 6'5 19-year old played "professionally" with Vytautas Prienu in Lithuania this year after leaving UCLA following a very public shoplifting incident in China.
According to Yahoo Sports, LiAngelo is expected to work out for multiple teams once he returns from Lithuania, and he will participate in the Pro Basketball Combine at IMG Academy in May in front of team executives.
Last month, LaVar Ball told reporter Donatas Urbonas, that his oldest son, Lonzo, will not resign with the Lakers if they don't take LiAngelo and LaMelo as well.
“I want all my three boys to play for the Lakers. But if that does not happen. I’m telling you the story what’s gonna happen first. If they don’t take Gelo this year, I bring back Gelo here (Prienai) to play with Melo for two years. Lonzo will be on his third year and I want let every NBA team know that Lonzo is not going to re-sign with the Lakers but will go to any team that will take all of my three boys. That’s my plan.”
In nine first-division Lithuanian League games with Vytautas Prienu, Ball averaged 15.7 points per game, including 45% shooting from three, according to Charania. 247Sports ranked LiAngelo as a 3-star recruit coming out of Chino Hills high school, and he was ranked as the 226th overall player and 50th ranked shooting guard in the 2017 class.
In December, following the shoplifting scandal, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said that Ball "has no chance that he'll be drafted in June — and that was true before his shoplifting incident in China." An NBA GM reportedly told ESPN, "He's not on any of our scouting lists — even the extended lists."
