When you’re a team with a superstar that expects to be in title contention for years, the front office has to nail their draft picks in the back half of the first round. You need to find a Brandin Podziemski (19th), a Payton Pritchard (26th), or, if you’re really lucky, a Tyrese Maxey (21st).
Then there are the misses, and sometimes it’s better to move on earlier rather than later. We saw that Thursday, the deadline day for teams to pick up rookie contract player options for next season. The Lakers and Bucks chose not to pick up the team options for two of their first-round picks, Jalen Hood-Schifino and MarJon Beauchamp, according to multiple reports.
Both will be free agents after this season.
Hood-Schifino, the No. 17 pick in 2023, is currently in his second season with the Lakers but the team is not picking up his third year option, a story broken by Chris Haynes. He played in just 21 games in an injury-plagued rookie season, first suffering a knee injury in the preseason, but the real blow was a back injury that ultimately led to a lumbar microdiscectomy in March, and he was out most of the second half of last season. Recovery from that surgery kept him out of Summer League, then when he got on the court in the preseason he was unimpressive, averaging 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 19.8 minutes of play. He has yet to get on the court this season with the Lakers.
Beauchamp, a 6’6″ guard, is in his third season in Milwaukee and has played a total of nine minutes for the team through four games. The No. 24 pick in 2022 has not had the most stable environment — Doc Rivers is his third head coach in as many years — and while Adrian Griffin gave him a chance, getting him on the court in 33 games (and he shot 40% from 3 in those games) he has not been part of Doc Rivers’ plans. Beauchamp was set to make $4.8 million next season.
