Expert Ranks Performances Of LA Draft Picks Among Summer League’s Worst

The NBA Summer League is a chance for rookies, second-year players, and G-League hopefuls to showcase their skills to NBA teams. It’s always a fun time out in Las Vegas and gives fans a glimpse of NBA basketball in between the NBA Finals and the new season.

For the Los Angeles Lakers this season, it was a chance to see what some guys that are looking to potentially carve out a spot in the rotation could do. The main players that Laker fans wanted to see were their two draft picks in Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis. 

Both players provided much hype after the draft process, and LA fans were eager to see them play.

However, it wasn’t the greatest showing for them in Vegas but there is hope yet. Hood Schifino had a better overall performance than Lewis, but it didn’t help either avoid one NBA insider's negatives about the summer league.

John Hollinger of The Athletic listed both Hood-Schifino and Lewis as members of his “worst of the summer league” candidates.

“Jalen Hood-Schifino played six games and had the ball in his hands a ton, but his habit of settling for tough 2s repeatedly got him in trouble. He finished with a ghastly 39.4 percent true shooting mark, including making just 38.0 percent of his 2s.”

Per The Athletic

His shooting stroke seems to be a work in progress but Hood-Schifino did show that he could run an offense. He looked aggressive at times while driving to the rim, and showed that he wasn’t scared of the moment. It may take him some time to get accustomed to the speed of the NBA game, but that is normal for rookies.

As for Lewis, he struggled to show what he could do and looked timid out on the court at times.

"Ditto for Maxwell Lewis, the 40th pick out of Pepperdine who has prototype small forward size and leaping ability but struggled to put that together in seven summer-league games"

Per The Athletic

Lewis should look to get better as time goes on, and the team is still very high on him. They traded up in the second round to select him, so they value his game. 

As LA's offseason continues, it will be interesting to see how both players develop their games more, and if they can carve out a rotation spot come training camp.