LA Faced Another Unwelcome Reminder Of Possible Draft Mistake

During the first contest of their ongoing six-game Grammy road trip, a 135-119 blowout against the Houston Rockets, your Los Angeles Lakers were served with yet another reminder that they appear to have missed out on a win-now opportunity in the 2023 NBA draft.

Reserve rookie Rockets small forward/shooting guard Cam Whitmore, selected with the No. 20 pick in the draft out of Villanova, scored 20 points on 7-of-12 field goal shooting (2-of-6 from deep) and 4-of-6 foul shooting, plus six rebounds, in just 18 minutes, notching a +11 for his efforts.

In two minutes, LA rookie combo guard Jalen Hood-Schifino logged one assist, one foul and zero points on 0-of-1 shooting from the field. LA drafted Hood-Schifino with the No. 17 pick, and he has yet to crack his team's rotation. Whitmore, Miami Heat small forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski were the three immediate selections after Hood-Schifino, and all are major contributors on current playoff hopefuls.

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, LA head coach Darvin Ham revealed pregame that Los Angeles held a pre-draft workout for Whitmore last summer.

"The kid is going to be special, man,” Ham raved, indicating that he considered Whitmore “another bright, young superstar that’s going to be in our league for a long time.”

Nobody bats 1.000 in finding young NBA talent, so whiffing on JHS is hardly an indictment on LA GM Rob Pelinka, who has generally done a decent job in that department (Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Austin Reaves were all added when Pelinka held a position of power within Los Angeles' front office). It's also early, and Hood-Schifino has had some bad injury luck, so he probably has room to grow yet. But a 24-25 Los Angeles club desperate for supplemental scoring could really benefit from a Whitmore, Jaquez or Podziemski right now, this season. It seems unlikely Hood-Schifino will develop in time to help 39-year-old LeBron James win anything.