Is Jalen Hood-Schifino Due for a Breakout Season as an NBA Sophomore?
As is the case with a lot of NBA rookies (not named Trayce Jackson-Davis), Jalen Hood-Schifino had an extremely quiet first season as a member of the association. He saw action in just 21 big league games and amassed meager averages of 5.2 MPG, 1.6 PPG, 0.6 RPG and 0.4 APG (compared to 0.4 TOPG) on rugged shooting splits of 22.2% FG/13.3% 3FG/60.0% FT. But after seeing the level of dominance he exhibited during his time in the G League with the South Bay Lakers, it is not difficult to imagine Woody's point guard pupil growing into a larger role at the big league level in the season to come.
Where his NBA numbers were minuscule, his G League numbers were MASSIVE. In the floor general's 15 games (all starts) in the minors, he averaged 35.4 MPG, 22.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.5 APG (compared to just 3.2 TOPG), 0.6 BPG, and 0.8 SPG on sizzling shooting splits of 47.3% FG/43.2% 3FG (on a healthy 5.4 attempts a night)/80.0% FT. Hood-Schifino routinely looked a step ahead of his competition at the G League level, consistently looking far superior in comparison to his peers.
With an overpowering frame (6'5", 215 lbs) and a physical brand of attack on both ends of the floor, Hood-Schifino has a lot of the tangible gifts that you typically seek in a modern point guard. Plus, he has surely been soaking up an abundance of highly intelligent knowledge from arguably the greatest player (point guard?) that has ever graced the hardwood: LeBron James. LBJ might be quite a bit bigger than his younger disciple, but JHS certainly stands to learn from the King's bullying ways as a player who nearly always holds a size advantage over his respective matchups.
Unfortunately Hood-Schifino's sheer talent alone will not be enough to get his feet on the NBA floor regularly being that this team boasts multiple other highly talented perimeter players. Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell would likely retain their starting spots from the tail end of last season if there are no significant roster moves made between now and the start of training camp. Max Christie is primed for an uptick in minutes after inking an extension featuring an uptick in annual salary. Gabe Vincent had a rough go of things in his inaugural season with the Purple and Gold, but was one of the core catalysts for the Miami Heat's run to the 2023 NBA Finals. Then you have a pair of polarizing rookies inbound with Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. Bronny's preliminary NBA campaign will likely look a lot similar to JHS's 2023-2024 rookie year, with his largest contributions coming with the South Bay Lakers. Knecht, on the other hand, could be in store for a large wing role as a Laker right away.
Despite the Lakers' lack of major moves in free agency/the trade market, there has still been a bunch of Laker offseason buzz as a result of Knecht and (more notably) Bronny's respective arrivals. Lost in the midst of all the hype tied to the incoming rookies has been any type of noise whatsoever in connection to the team's #17 overall pick in last year's draft Hood-Schifino (who is nearly a full 2 years younger than Knecht).
Perhaps Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and the organization will elect to include Hood-Schifino in a trade to acquire a veteran player who is "more ready to contribute right now". But after seeing the failed first year experiment with Gabe Vincent as the backup point and assuming the aforementioned first year plan for Bronny holds true, Hood-Schifino could actually stand to serve a moderately important role with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2024-2025 season if they do inevitably decide to hang onto him.
If they do choose to run it back and ride JHS's potential out, he could be a sneaky breakout candidate in the years to come looking across the entire landscape of the league. If he were to be dealt to a rebuilding team, his numbers could skyrocket across the board. But given the type of grooming that he is getting with the greatest franchise in the National Basketball Assocation, staying put could be best route for his long-term outlook.
Thinking back to the type of role that we saw Talen Horton-Tucker (a similar type of player) fill with this squad a few years back in his first few seasons in the league yields thoughts of what could lie ahead for Jalen Hood-Schifino as a sophomore at the professional ranks. Whether that type of ceiling is too high/low remains to be seen, but we are excited to witness what is in store for the former Hoosier turned Laker.
Keep going, JHS!