On Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers declined 2023 No. 17 pick Jalen Hood-Schifino’s team option for the 2025-26 season (h/t ESPN senior insider Shams Charania), setting him up to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason.
The Los Angeles Lakers are declining guard Jalen Hood-Schifino’s third-year team option worth $4 million for 2025-26, sources tell ESPN. This makes the 21-year-old, 6-foot-5 guard an unrestricted free agent in offseason and creates roster flexibility for Lakers. pic.twitter.com/lwKGwVTg6w
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 31, 2024
For a player selected just outside of the lottery a little more than a year ago, the lack of faith that the Lakers have in the 21-year-old is unexpected, but was it the right decision? As a team with limited draft assets as is, shouldn’t Los Angeles try to squeeze out all of Hood-Schifino’s potential?
Was Lakers’ Jalen Hood-Schifino Contract Decision Right Choice?
In an era that’s seen team captivated by jumbo-sized point guards, Hood-Schifino left Indiana as an attractive prospect.
His numbers weren’t quite pristine. He averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 0.8 steals in 33.1 minutes per game. It was a head-turning all-around performance, especially for a true freshman. However, the jack of all trades shot just 41.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from outside.
Sinilar to many prospects, Hood-Schifino’s inefficiency was thought to be more of an issue with shot-selection and workable mechanics. So entering the draft, there was little chance he would fall out of the first round. In fact, there was a possibility that he could be selected in the lottery. As it turned out, he fell just outside of it, but that was yet another reason they were high on him. Like 2024 No. 17 pick Dalton Knecht, they thought they ended up with a steal.
In reality, Hood-Schifino couldn’t find the bottom of the net after he got drafted. In Summer League, he shot 34.0 percent from the field and 21.7 percent from three. Then in the preseason, he converted just 17.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 9.1 percent of his three-point attempts. By the time the regular season started, it was clear that he wasn’t going to hit the ground running.
However, he looked much better during his G League assignment with the South Bay Lakers.
In 15 games, he averaged 22.0 points, 5.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per game. More importantly, he made 47.3 percent of his shots, including 43.2 percent of his threes. Unfortunately for Hood-Schifino, he barely able to get out the blocks when called back up before being sidelined by a season-ending back injury.
Did They Jump The Gun?
Depending on how the season plays out, they could still bring Hood-Schifino back. They may even be able to sign him for the minimum. That being said, from a business perspective, the move makes perfect sense. However, as previously mentioned, the Lakers don’t have much draft capital to work with. So, losing a player who has the potential to be a rotation player to save a couple of million dollars might not have been the wisest choice.
In what was a wild offseason, there was little discussion about Hood-Schifino as he recovered. It wouldn’t even be fair to say that there were high expectations when he returned. After yet another disappointing preseason, there weren’t really any external expectations for him at all.
Still, without much chance to right the ship, it’s hard to say whether the Lakers are right to have declined Hood-Schifino’s upcoming team option.
