Right on schedule, according to father Lavar Ball, second son LiAngelo has declared for the NBA draft. He will be working out for several scouts and teams and plans to participate in the pro combine with other potential draft picks. Ball is averaging just over 15 points per game, playing for Vytautas Prienu in Lithuania with youngest brother LaMelo.
According to the script
LiAngelo's declaration is just another step in father Lavar's master plan of getting all three of his boys to the NBA.
He boastfully proclaimed that the boys would be better served skipping out on UCLA and playing professionally in Europe to prepare for the NBA. He even went so far as to alter Vytautas Prienu's schedule to better accommodate his sons with a showcase of games against lesser talent -- all in a bid to prop up his budding stars as they try to force their way into the NBA.
Though LiAngelo has played pretty well in Lithuania, he may be better served by waiting to enter the draft. As it stands now, he isn't drawing a lot of interest and he doesn't dominate the game the way many one and done college players do before they leave for the NBA.
One would likely argue that his best bet would be to go back to school and try to grow his game through a full college career. That doesn't fit with the one and done idea that Lavar has always had for his boys. They would go straight to the NBA from high school, or even before that, if Lavar had his way.
This is where the Lavar plan finally hits some uncertainty, though. No matter what he said or did last year, Lonzo was going to be a lottery pick, he is just that talented. LiAngelo, however, hasn't shown a reason for teams to want to take a risk on him. He will need to perform extremely well in his upcoming workouts to avoid being the Ball who doesn't get drafted.
What are his chances?
The chances of LiAngelo Ball being drafted are highly unlikely.
Before his arrest and withdrawal from UCLA, Ball was at best considered a fringe 2nd round prospect. Even that was being generous. It was always a well known secret that LiAngelo's value to UCLA was more about securing the services of his brothers. NBA teams don't generally work like that and no GM is going to dedicate a roster spot to someone's brother. That is of course unless LeBron was asking, then maybe it'd be different.
If LiAngelo can impress the scouts enough, he could find himself in the G-League next season and potentially work his way onto a team from there. There's always Lithuania if that doesn't work out.