If you buy what Rob Pelinka is selling, the Lakers wrapped up the 2023 NBA draft feeling great. Pelinka offered high praise of incoming rookie and No. 17 pick Jalen Hood-Schifino, and even offered up a potential player comp that'll have Los Angeles fans buying in immediately.
As The Athletic's Jovan Buha revealed, Pelinka labeled Hood-Schifino as a "lottery-level talent" and pointed to his "Lakers DNA." The praise that came down from Pelinka wasn't surface-level stuff, either, as the Lakers general manager even went as far as comparing the former Indiana guard to a current fan-favorite in Austin Reaves.
“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.”
It's a great point from Pelinka and one that should resonate with Lakers fans as they've watched Reaves take major strides forward in his career.
The 25-year-old guard is fresh off a season in which he averaged career-best marks nearly across the board, with 13 points per game and 3.4 assists (up from 7.3 points and 1.8 assists in 2021–22). He also improved as a shooter, going from 45.9 to 52.9% and 31.7 to 39.8% from three-point range.
Pelinka even took it one step further by raving about the idea of pairing Hood-Schifino and Reaves in the backcourt together, citing the ability of either player to play both guard positions, per The Athletic.
“You think about the opportunity to pair two young guards together like Austin Reaves and Jalen Hood-Schifino,” Pelinka said. “People would say, ‘Is Austin a point guard? A 2-guard?’ Well, he’s an on-the-ball guard. He can make plays with the ball in his hand. And I would say the same thing about Jalen Hood-Schifino.”
It’ll be interesting to monitor how the Lakers build out the remainder of their roster. That construction could go a long way toward attempting to get an idea of how much playing time Hood-Schifino could receive during his rookie campaign.
