Among the overseas clubs that a representative for the Ball family approached about signing 19-year-old LiAngelo and his 16-year-old younger brother LaMelo is Lietkabelis of the Lithuanian Basketball League general manager Mantas Ignatavičius confirmed Tuesday to Yahoo Sports. Lietkabelis coach Arturs Stalbergs subsequently scoffed at the idea in a since-deleted tweet that poked fun at LiAngelo’s shoplifting arrest in China last month.
The tweet from Stalbergs reflects the discord between how LaVar often touts LiAngelo and how scouts actually see him. LaVar has repeatedly described LiAngelo as a one-and-done talent and a future NBA player but evaluators familiar with his game are skeptical that he’ll even be able to latch on with a first-division team in Europe let alone join older brother Lonzo with the Lakers.
An NBA general manager told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday that LiAngelo is “not on any of our scouting lists — even the extended lists.” A Division I college coach echoed that Tuesday telling Yahoo Sports that LiAngelo projected as a small-ball power forward at a mid-major program had UCLA not taken him as part of a package deal with his brothers.
While LiAngelo averaged an eye-popping 33.3 points as a senior at Chino Hills High School and helped lead the team to a 30-win season last year he doesn’t have Lonzo’s long athletic frame or impeccable court vision nor can he score as many ways as LaMelo. The 6-foot-5 swingman is a dangerous spot-up shooter but he hasn’t shown the quickness or athleticism to attack off the dribble nor has he yet learned to take advantage of his strength in the post.
It’s very difficult for me to see him having a longterm pathway to sucess where he could make more money in basketball than he could have as a UCLA graduate,” said Sam Vecenie who has covered the NBA draft for The Athletic Sporting News and CBSSports.com.
LiAngelo likely would have come off the bench at UCLA as a freshmen were it not for the shoplifting arrest that derailed his career. He and fellow freshmen Cody Riley and Jalen Hill were detained eight days in China for stealing items from three high-end stores days before the Bruins were scheduled to open their season against Georgia Tech in Shanghai.
LaVar has said he will spend the next six months personally preparing LiAngelo for the NBA draft. If LiAngelo goes unselected as expected and fails to earn a training camp invite then the family would likely have to explore other options.
There’s little incentive for EuroLeague clubs or other first-division European teams to offer LiAngelo a contract because history suggests players his age will struggle.
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