Getty The Los Angeles Lakers are being praised for their 2023 NBA draft.
The Los Angeles Lakers got to work following the draft signing several undrafted free agents including former Missouri standout guard D’Moi Hodge, per Los Angeles Times’ Dan Woike. The Lakers also signed a pair of ex-Florida players to undrafted deals: big man Colin Castleton and forward Alex Fudge.
“The Lakers are signing Missouri G D’Moi Hodge to a 2-way contract, sources tell the @latimes,” Woike detailed in a series of June 23, 2023 tweets. “Shot 40 percent on 7 threes per game this year. Former DPOY in the Horizon League. From the British Virgin Islands.”
Hodge averaged 14.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 steals, and 1.6 assists while shooting 40% from long range for the Tigers during the 2022-23 season. The guard spent his previous two collegiate seasons at Cleveland State where he was named to the 2021-22 All-Horizon team.
New Los Angeles Lakers Guard D’Moi Hodge Could Be a Potential 3-and-D NBA Player
The 6-foot-3 guard has a 6-foot-5 wingspan and was ranked as The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s No. 82 ranked overall player. Hodge and the other undrafted prospects will be fighting for a Lakers roster spot, but the guard projects as a potential 3-and-D player at the next level.
“Hodge is a disruptive defender that can cause chaos at the point of attack,” Sports Illustrated’s scouting report of Hodge noted. “He has quick hands and reaction speed which results in him averaging nearly three steals per game. Hodge doesn’t have ridiculous upside but there’s a role in the NBA for his archetype as a 3-and-D wing, especially since he excels at both of those skills.
“The productive guard can make a variety of different shots off the catch, movement, and dribble while also defending with toughness. He has smooth shot mechanics with good touch from all around the perimeter. However, he doesn’t have a ton of creation skills or advanced passing ability but he plays a role at a high level that every NBA organization wants on their roster.”
Los Angeles Lakers News: LA Labeled Jalen Hood-Schifino as a ‘Lottery Level Talent’
That call is something special. The moment Jalen became a Laker.
The Lakers drafted former Indiana guard Jalen Hood-Schifino at No. 17 and Pepperdine forward Maxwell Lewis at No. 40, a second-round pick Los Angeles moved up to make. The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor praised the Lakers draft adding it “seems they have a good draft every single year.”
“I love what the Lakers did tonight,” O’Connor tweeted on June 23. “JHS can help short term and develop into an important post-LeBron piece. Lewis is great value at 40. Three good undrafted pickups, especially Castleton. Seems they have a good draft every single year.”
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka labeled Hood-Schifino as a “lottery level talent.” The former Hoosiers guard averaged 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while connecting on 33.3% of his threes during the 2022-23 season.
“We have a great scouting department here. All the scouts are able to get around the country and see these guys play early, and it ends up with us doing a ranking that usually happens about a week before draft night,” Pelinka said during a June 23 press conference. “And on everybody’s board, Jalen was a target and well ahead of 17.
“So, when you have a player where all your scouts and the rest of the people in the front office have him identified as a target, it’s a consensus decision. So, this was an easy one for us. We had him ranked as a lottery level talent and to get him outside of the lottery just is great value, great value.”