It appeared all but inevitable that LiAngelo Ball‘s college career was coming to an end, and that was confirmed when he signed with the same agent that represents his older brother, Lonzo Ball. LiAngleo and his younger brother LaMelo Ball, who also signed with the agent, have agreed to play one year overseas for a team in Lithuania.
Yahoo Sports reports:
LaMelo, 16, and LiAngelo Ball, 19, agreed to deals with Vytautas that will allow the two prospects to start their careers in a competitive professional league with a history of producing NBA players and focus on development. Both will report to the team in early January, sources told Yahoo Sports. LaMelo and LiAngelo — the younger brothers of Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard Lonzo Ball — began the process of exploring international deals last week.
They have now committed to a Lithuanian team that won a championship last season and plays in competitive games in the Baltic and Lithuanian leagues, which includes teams that participate in EuroCup (Lietkabelis) and EuroLeague (Zalgiris). Several notable players have spent time in the Lithuanian league before joining the NBA or other leagues, including Toronto Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas, the No. 5 pick in the 2011 NBA draft; Boston Celtics center Aron Baynes; ex-Houston and New Orleans forward Donatas Motiejunas; former New York Knicks forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas; and Isaiah Hartenstein, who was a second-round pick to Houston in the 2017 draft.
The outlet adds that agent Harrison Gaines fielded a number of international deals for the brothers, but the signing with Vytautas Prienai offered the most potential for the players to find minutes.
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