If you buy what Rob Pelinka is selling, the Lakers wrapped up the 2023 NBA draft feeling great. Pelinka offered high praise of incoming rookie and No. 17 pick Jalen Hood-Schifino, and even offered up a potential player comp that'll have Los Angeles fans buying in immediately.
As The Athletic's Jovan Buha revealed, Pelinka labeled Hood-Schifino as a "lottery-level talent" and pointed to his "Lakers DNA." The praise that came down from Pelinka wasn't surface-level stuff, either, as the Lakers general manager even went as far as comparing the former Indiana guard to a current fan-favorite in Austin Reaves.
“We saw, again, just as a point of comparison, with a player like Austin Reaves, when we drafted him, he wasn’t a knockdown shooter. But he is now,” Pelinka said. “It’s because he put in work—and work with our staff. And I know that’s something Jalen is committed to too.”
