LaVar Ball said he wanted LaMelo Ball in Detroit. It'll be LiAngelo instead.
The Pistons signed the 22-year-old Ball, the middle of three brothers, to a one-year, non-guaranteed contract on Wednesday, according to The Athletic.
Pistons GM Troy Weaver got a look at Ball last season during his stint with the G League team of the Oklahoma City Thunder, where Weaver was a top executive. Ball was a practice player for the Oklahoma City Blue.
Ball also played professionally in Lithuania in the 2017-18 season before going unselected in the 2018 NBA Draft. Ankle injuries have limited his exposure the past couple years.
Ball might be best known for his arrest in China in 2017 when he and two other freshmen on the UCLA basketball team were caught shoplifting sunglasses from a Louis Vuitton store. He withdrew from school shortly thereafter.
Ball's winding journey brings him to Detroit, where he'll try to earn an opportunity on a rebuilding team.