One player who has yet to see any minutes with the Los Angeles Lakers is last year’s first round pick, point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino as he has been practicing with the South Bay Lakers ahead of their sold out G League season opener on Saturday night.
Even still, Hood-Schifino was in the news recently as the Lakers declined to pick up his third-year option for next year, which would seem to indicate the team may feel they missed on this draft pick. Hood-Schifino was the youngest player in the 2023 draft class and is viewed as more of a project, but with immediate impact players such Jaime Jaquez and Brandin Podziemski taken right after, many fans want to see more.
But Hood-Schifino is taking the Lakers’ decision all in stride and still feels he has an opportunity to prove what he can do in this league
“It happened, so for me, I just got to continue to get better,” Hood-Schifino said at South Bay Lakers Media Day. “It’s still an opportunity to get better, learn. Playing in the G League, big team or not, opportunities will be there so at the end of the day for me I just got to continue to take it day-by-day and take advantage of anything that comes my way.”
That is certainly the right mindset to have and in fairness to Hood-Schifino, he showed a lot of promise in the G League last season. It very much went under the radar, but in 15 games with the South Bay Lakers, Hood-Schifino averaged 22 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting 47.3% from the field and 43.2% from 3-point range.
The tools are there and Hood-Schifino will simply continue to work hard and play with that chip on his shoulder.
“The chip’s always there, regardless if people write me off or not,” Hood-Schifino added. “At the end of the day as a competitor and for myself, I know I got to play better. At the end of the day its a journey and this is my walk, this is reality. It’s gonna be ups and downs, but my mantra is ‘failure is no option’ so I’m gonna just continue to work, get better and move forward each and every day.”
The Lakers reportedly declined the option in order to maximize flexibility next offseason and JJ Redick insists the team still believes in Hood-Schifino. So if he is able to show that development and impress with South Bay, perhaps that chance with the main roster will come.
Teams have shown interest in trading for Lakers’ Jalen Hood-Schifino
Even if that opportunity doesn’t come with the Lakers, the G League also offers a showcase to the rest of the league as well and Jalen Hood-Schifino could also catch the eye of a team willing to trade for him.
A recent report noted that teams such as the Atlanta Hawks and Utah Jazz have shown interest in trading for Hood-Schifino so if the right deal comes along, the Lakers could choose to move him and get pieces back in return.
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