Lakers officially informed LiAngelo Ball he will not be on their Summer League team last night. They were determined to make this a basketball decision but as one source put it, “obviously there’s more to it than basketball.” In other words— the LaVar effect was real.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 22, 2018
This wasn’t unexpected, the Lakers deal with LaVar because Lonzo at worst will be a solid point guard in the NBA for many years and at best if he works on his shot has the potential to be an all-star.
LiAngelo was a fringe player and isn’t worth the hassle.
What BSO sources are telling me is that another reason beyond the obvious why the Lakers don’t want to be in the LiAngelo business is because Lonzo is no longer untouchable in trade talks.
If it takes getting rid of Lonzo to get Kawhi or LeBron the Lakers won’t hesitate to make that move, so they don’t want to have LiAngelo even on a summer league roster if that happens to go down.