The Los Angeles Lakers made a surprise decision this past week when they declined the third-year team option on point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino.
The Lakers drafted Hood-Schifino with the 17th overall pick in 2023 knowing that he would be a project that they would need to develop after just one season at Indiana.
Hood-Schifino struggled at the NBA level during his rookie season though and then was forced to undergo back surgery, causing him to miss the end of the season and then all of Summer League. While Hood-Schifino is still just 21 years of age, the Lakers felt they had seen enough to decide they didn’t want him under contract for around $4 million in 2024-25, so now he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
With that being the case, the Lakers could look to include Hood-Schifino’s expiring salary in trade talks leading up to the deadline in February. It appears some teams have already expressed interest in the guard, as Jake Fischer reported on Bleacher Report:
“He will be playing in the G League this year, and he’ll have plenty of opportunity to showcase himself, both in the G League in general and at the G league showcase when the entire league descends upon Orlando in December. Atlanta had an interest in him in that talk with Dejounte Murray last year. Utah, I believe, has shown interest in him.”
If a team does trade for Hood-Schifino then they will do so knowing that he is an expiring contract that they would need to re-sign this summer if they want to keep him.
While that may limit his value, there also is value for teams in acquiring expiring contracts at the deadline so they are not tied to the player beyond this season if they don’t want to be.
Regardless, it seems like a change of scenery is the best thing for Hood-Schifino at this point knowing the Lakers were not interested in picking up his third-year option.
JJ Redick: Lakers haven’t given up on Jalen Hood-Schifino
Despite not picking up Jalen Hood-Schifino’s team option, head coach JJ Redick recently spoke about how the organization still believes in him and wants to develop him this season.
The expectation is for Hood-Schifino to spend time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers to get consistent minutes and work on his game after missing so much time last season. Depending on how he looks in those games, he could earn himself some minutes with the Lakers if they lose some backcourt players to injury.
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