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Omari Sankofa II
| Detroit Free Press
Detroit Pistons’ Dwane Casey: We want to force feed youngsters, but compete to win
Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey answers questions from the media as training camp opens Dec. 1, 2020.
The Detroit Pistons continue to add to their roster, and this time it’s a name many basketball fans know.
LiAngelo Ball, the brother of two recent top-three draft picks and the son of the notoriously braggadocios LaVar Ball, has signed a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Pistons.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania was first to report the deal. The contract has an Exhibit 10 clause, which are for the minimum salary and could be converted into a two-way deal, allowing the player to go between the NBA team and its G League affiliate. If Ball is waived after training camp, he could join the Grand Rapids Drive and receive a bonus.
Ball, 22, spent part of last season with the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G League affiliate. He played just one game before the season was ended due to the pandemic.
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Ball’s older brother, Lonzo, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft and now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans. His younger brother, LaMelo, was taken third pick in this year’s draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
LiAngelo’s professional career including a stint with his father’s Junior Basketball Association, an alternative to college basketball. He was that league’s All-Star Game co-MVP and the league finals MVP in 2019. But he suffered an ankle injury and needed surgery shorter thereafter.
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LiAngelo, a 6-foot-5 wing player, was a three-star recruit in UCLA’s class of 2017. In November of that year, he and two other freshman were arrested during a team’s trip in Shanghai for allegedly shoplifting sunglasses from a high-end fashion store.
The three freshman were soon released but later suspended indefinitely by the team. Ball then left UCLA the next month. He then spent the rest of the basketball season playing in Lithuania.
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.