Not every Lakers draft pick is going to be a hit, and Jalen Hood-Schifino just so happens to be one of their biggest misses. According to league insider Chris Haynes, Jalen is set to become a free agent this season after the Lakers declined his third-year, $4 million rookie option.
“Sources: Los Angeles Lakers are declining the third-year rookie-scale option on Jalen Hood-Schifino and he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.“
After trading so much of their draft capital to build this roster, the Lakers don’t have an abundance of draft selections and it’s important for them to get their them right. Last year, in arguably one of the most important drafts in recent history, the Lakers flopped hard by picking a young prospect who was known to struggle with his shot: Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Coming out of Indiana, Hood-Schifino showed a lot of promise as a 6’6″ combo guard with skills as a passer, ball handler, and finisher but his skillset was never quite right for this Lakers group.
Since being drafted 17th by the Lakers last year, he has only played in 21 games for them so far with averages of 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 0.4 assists per game on 22% shooting from the field.
In the end, the Lakers weren’t relying on Jalen to become a star prospect for them but when you think about who was picked after him, it really puts things into perspective.
At 17, several high-profile names were available, including Jaime Jacquez Jr., Brandin Podziemski, and Cam Whitmore (among others). Any one of those players would have been a better fit for the Lakers and yet somehow they landed with Jalen Hood-Schifino.
It’s yet another mistake in the Rob Pelinka era and this one could prove costly if they don’t make some kind of run this season. As a team with limited depth and flexibility, the Lakers only have so many chances to improve, and every wrong step they take is another setback on the road contention.
As for Jalen himself, it remains to be seen if he will crack JJ Redick’s rotation after getting DNPs in the first five games. He still has time to find his place on this team, and in the NBA itself, but with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reaves, the Lakers just don’t have enough time to wait for his game to develop. If he can’t carve out a place in the G-League, Hood-Schifino may have to try his luck overseas in order to earn his next NBA contract.
Fortunately, the Lakers do have some young talent in the form of Bronny James and Dalton Knecht. While Bronny is more of a long-term project, Knecht is quickly becoming a core piece of the Lakers on account of his shooting and scoring off the bench. He and Bronny are the newest additions to the Lake Show and with their development as a top priority, it doesn’t leave much room for any other projects.
This season, we will see what the Lakers have from top to bottom but they cannot afford to keep missing on their draft picks. When LeBron James eventually retires down the road, the Lakers will need a new generation of stars to take the mantle and that means equipping the scouting department with all the resources they need to find the next young prospects.
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