Lakers Just Guaranteed Young Player's Exit With Surprise Decision

The Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka deserves a lot of criticism about his management. His lack of urgency and failure to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with sufficient talent have been utterly disappointing.

His drafting, however, is generally considered one of his strong suits. He has been able to find value on the margins when it comes to prospects. Taking a flyer on undrafted Austin Reaves and finding Max Christie in the second round have been recent success stories.

At the same time, the 2023 NBA Draft was a complete disaster. Armed with the No. 17 overall pick, the Lakers decided to keep the selection instead of trading it, much to the chagrin of the fanbase. They then used it on combo guard Jalen Hood-Schifino out of Indiana.

Hood-Schifino hasn't been able to contribute at all so far. What hurts even more is the next three picks in the draft. Jaime Jaquez Jr, Brandin Podziemski, and Cam Whitmore look like future NBA starters, with Jaquez and Podziemski already playing at that level. If the Lakers had one of those youngsters, their future would be significantly brighter.

Now, the latest reporting from Chris Haynes all but confirms the end of Hood-Schifino's tenure in Los Angeles. The team declined the third-year rookie-scale option on the former Hoosier, making him a free agent at the end of the season.

Lakers Turn Down Jalen Hood-Schifino's Third-Year Option

This is a shocking development because it rarely happens. Teams almost always pick up the third-year option on their players since they want to have young prospects on team-friendly contracts. They can later use them as trade chips or develop them within their system.

When teams occasionally do this, it's because there has been a management change. If a previous administration drafted a player, the new regime might not be too invested in him, leading them to part ways sooner.

That is not the case here. Only after a year with the team, the front office clearly gave up on Hood-Schifino. Whether he gets traded mid-season remains to be seen but Hood-Schifino's Lakers days are coming to an end.

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