LiAngelo Ball: It's a 'Priority' to Be Drafted by Lakers, Play with Lonzo
After the Ball family's grand plan ultimately succeeded in landing Lonzo Ball with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2017 NBA draft, his brother LiAngelo is hoping to join him June 21.
In an interview with ESPN LA 710 (h/t Lakers Nation's Trevor Lane), LiAngelo expressed a desire to wind up with the Lakers on the night of the 2018 NBA draft:
"Lakers is my priority, for sure. I want to play with my brother. Ever since I played with Zo, we went undefeated. Same thing will happen when we get older. We're just going to get stronger and faster and better feel for the game. It will be a good outcome. ... I'm willing to play for other teams. That's fine if they pick me. My priority is the Lakers. I just want to play with my brother."
While LiAngelo's desire to play with his brother is understandable, simply getting drafted should be his main priority.
In his most recent big board at the conclusion of the NBA regular season, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman didn't list Ball among his top 50 players in this year's draft class. Neither Sports Illustrated's Jeremy Woo nor ESPN's Jonathan Givony had Ball in their top 100 players.
Ball didn't receive an invite to the NBA draft combine, but Lonzo Wire's Josh Martin reported he will work out at a two-day event at IMG Academy later this month and is willing to work out privately with interested teams.
Ball averaged 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists and shot 41.5 percent from three-point range in 14 appearances for BC Vytautas in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL).
The Lakers have two picks in the 2018 draft. They select 25th overall in the first round after acquiring the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-rounder and have the 47th overall pick, which originally belonged to the Denver Nuggets.
It's hard to see how Ball did enough during his brief stay in Lithuania to justify the Lakers taking him with either of those selections.
Should he go undrafted, Ball's best bet of reaching the Lakers' active roster would likely be joining their NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, assuming the Lakers provide him the opportunity.
The G League is a great proving ground for players with hopes of playing in the NBA, and that could be the case for Ball as long as he's willing to be patient and iron out the flaws in his game.
