If you obtain what Rob Pelinka is marketing, the Lakers wrapped up the 2023 NBA draft feeling fantastic. Pelinka supplied high praise of incoming rookie and No. 17 choose Jalen Hood-Schifino, and even provided up a likely player comp that’ll have Los Angeles fans acquiring in quickly.
As The Athletic‘s Jovan Buha revealed, Pelinka labeled Hood-Schifino as a “lottery-amount talent” and pointed to his “Lakers DNA.” The praise that came down from Pelinka wasn’t area-amount stuff, both, as the Lakers common manager even went as much as comparing the previous Indiana guard to a current supporter-favourite in Austin Reaves.
“We saw, all over again, just as a issue of comparison, with a participant like Austin Reaves, when we drafted him, he was not a knockdown shooter. But he is now,” Pelinka claimed. “It’s for the reason that he place in work—and operate with our employees. And I know that is something Jalen is dedicated to as well.”
It’s a terrific issue from Pelinka and one that should resonate with Lakers fans as they’ve watched Reaves take major strides forward in his profession.
The 25-yr-outdated guard is fresh new off a season in which he averaged occupation-greatest marks virtually across the board, with 13 points for each video game and 3.4 assists (up from 7.3 points and 1.8 helps in 2021–22). He also improved as a shooter, heading from 45.9 to 52.9% and 31.7 to 39.8% from 3-position array.
Pelinka even took it one action more by raving about the notion of pairing Hood-Schifino and Reaves in the backcourt jointly, citing the means of both player to play equally guard positions, for each The Athletic.
“You assume about the possibility to pair two young guards together like Austin Reaves and Jalen Hood-Schifino,” Pelinka reported. “People would say, ‘Is Austin a level guard? A 2-guard?’ Very well, he’s an on-the-ball guard. He can make plays with the ball in his hand. And I would say the exact same issue about Jalen Hood-Schifino.”
It’ll be exciting to keep track of how the Lakers build out the remainder of their roster. That building could go a extended way towards attempting to get an idea of how a lot enjoying time Hood-Schifino could receive in the course of his rookie campaign.
