With Lonzo in the NBA and LiAngelo's basketball career all but over, attention has shifted to the youngest Ball brother, LaMelo. LaMelo is seen as a five-star recruit but after his father LaVar had him play out in Lithuania, it seems very unlikely that Melo will pursue the NCAA before declaring for the NBA Draft in 2020. In fact, LaVar has made it clear that LaMelo will be going pro next season in an effort to get him in physical shape for the NBA. As LaVar told USA Today, he'll be going all the way across the world to play basketball.
“I’m going to let you know the plan now, so everyone can just stop. In college, I already knew what they were about to do. ‘We’re going to investigate, we’re not going to let him play until we let him play, LaVar. We’re not going to let you do all that big-mouth talking and then we’re going to hold him back and a whole year go by.’ The G League: I’m not going to let no 28, 29-year-old dudes tee off on him. And try to make a name for himself, so he’s definitely going overseas … Either Australia or China. One of the two.”
China and Australia would be interesting options for LaMelo, although China puts restrictions on foreign players. For example, only two foreign players can be on a team and they're only allowed a maximum of six combined quarters of playing time per game.
Needless to say, wherever LaMelo and LaVar go, a media circus will follow.