The update on Jalen Hood-Schifino's game that coach Ham wanted to hear

The Los Angeles Lakers used their No. 17 pick for the 2023 NBA Draft to select the guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, which was a shocker for the Lakers Nation, as Cam Whitmore was still available and was one of the top prospects that surprisingly fell to the 20th pick and went to the Houston Rockets.

Hood-Schifino demonstrated interesting things in the Summer League and has a lot of room for improvement, his playmaking seems to be great, but his main problem relies on the 3-point shooting, which has been a major issue for the purple and gold in the last few seasons.

Recent No. 17 overall draft pick Jalen Hood-Schifino enters the fold as another project that the Lakers coaching staff is going to develop. The 6’5″ guard shot 33.3% from 3 on 3.5 attempts in college so the volume is there, but he just simply needs to be league average or slightly above to flourish in today’s NBA. In his first offseason with the team, Hood-Schifino has been putting in the work to improve his 3-point shot, and is already paying off, via Jovan Buha of The Athletic:

“I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress. Being in the gym every day, getting up a lot of reps, working on my footwork, my form, mechanics, and everything. Getting everything sharp. That’s been a strong point and something that I’ve been really attacking every day.”

What Hood-Schifino brings to the Lakers table

The former Indiana Hoosier is a shot-creator who likes to get downhill, working in the mid-range and getting to the basket. But, the mechanics are there for Hood-Schifino to be a respectable shooter from behind the arc, so hopefully through continued reps the percentage will tick up. Assistant coach Phil Handy can work his magic with the rookie.