Los Angeles Lakers guard Jalen Hood-Schifino is entering his second NBA season after being drafted No. 17 overall in the first round out of Indiana in 2023.
He had a less than impressive rookie season in just 21 games he averaged 1.6 points per game, 0.6 rebounds, 0.4 assists with shooting splits of FG: 22.2%, 3PT: 13.3%, FT: 60.\% in 5.1 minutes per game.
JHS was sent down to the G-Leauge affiliate to play for the South Bay Lakers where he improved his game tremendously with 22.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.5 APG in 35 minutes per game.
Hood-Schifino will have a tough time playing too many minutes again as he will more than likely play behind Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent. He'll be in the third rotation with rookies Bronny James and Dalton Knecht.
Jalen Hood-Schifino has a lot to prove and he is already turning heads in practice as a two-way player as Rui Hachimura mentioned him as a young player who is standing out in Lakers training camp so far.
“Jalen. Jalen has been great,” Hachimura said after practice Thursday. “I can see he’s been putting a lot of work in his body. He got way stronger. I can see that he’s just more confident. I know he had surgery over the summer, but he overcame and I think he looks strong, healthy so yeah, I like him.”
At Indiana Hood-Schifino started 32 games averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 0.8 steals per game in his lone season as a Hoosier. The freshman season was enough to get the Montverde (FL) alum drafted in the 1st round by the Lakers.
Let's stay locked in to see how Hood-Schifino looks this season as he adds youth and depth to the Lakers roster for head coach J.J Redick.
Jalen Hood-Schifino so far in preseason:
— 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 🇮🇱🎗️ (@LakersGuy0) October 7, 2024
9 PTS | 3 REB | 3 AST | 57.1% FG
6 PTS | 6 AST | 4 REB | 1 STL | 1 BLK
It’s only preseason yeah, but compared to last year JHS looks like he finally got that confidence, the growth is real!
pic.twitter.com/LfhcjBzOCL