One of the newest members of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jalen Hood-Schifino, is an intriguing draft prospect, yet not everyone is fully sold on him.
While he has nice mid-range scoring abilities, defensive versatility and solid facilitating skills, he isn’t a good 3-point shooter and he appears to have a lack of footspeed.
Still, executive Rob Pelinka was sold on the Indiana University guard and took him at No. 17 on Thursday.
Pelinka said shortly after the draft that his intangibles, including his maturity and how he takes care of his body, are what will allow him to thrive with the Purple and Gold.
Rob Pelinka: “To be able to get a lottery-level talent in Jalen Hood-Schifino with the 17th pick is something we’re incredibly excited about.”
Pelinka cited Hood-Schifino’s positional size and maturity as things that appealed to the Lakers. Said he has “Lakers DNA.” pic.twitter.com/P8ThyzpOEz
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) June 23, 2023
Rob Pelinka calls Jalen Hood-Schifino a “lottery-level talent” and lauded his size, wingspan and basketball IQ bringing “positional size” to the PG spot. He also credited JHS’ professional habits with training and diet in his freshman year at IU as indicators he’ll fit in.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) June 23, 2023
In fact, the executive even compared Hood-Schifino to Austin Reaves in the sense of having the work ethic to shore up his deficient outside shooting.
Via Sports Illustrated:
“We saw, again, just as a point of comparison, with a player like Austin Reaves, when we drafted him, he wasn’t a knockdown shooter. But he is now,” Pelinka said. “It’s because he put in work—and work with our staff. And I know that’s something Jalen is committed to too.”
Unlike Hood-Schifino, who was expected by some to go higher than pick No. 17, Reaves was undrafted two years ago. By this season, which was his second in the NBA, he has gone from an obscure prospect to one with potential and then a budding star who is on everyone’s free agent radar.
The Lakers have had a very good track record, for the most part, with making the most of their draft picks in recent years. Only time will tell if Hood-Schifino will be a continuation of that trend.
