While the Lakers couldn’t pull off a draft day trade to upgrade their roster, Jesse and Joey Buss and their scouting department may have found exactly what they needed in undrafted gems Colin Castleton and D’moi Hodge.
At 23 and 24-years old with five years of college basketball, Castleton and Hodge give the Lakers a gifted young center who can rebound and protect the rim and a volume 3-point shooter who’s an elite perimeter defender. Castleton’s size and rim protection and Hodge’s volume 3-point shooting and perimeter defense are exactly what the Lakers desperately needed but didn’t get from backup center Mo Bamba or shooting guard Malik Beasley.
The Lakers went into draft day hoping to leverage the #17 pick in the first round and Malik Beasley’s and Mo Bamba’s expiring contracts to upgrade their starting lineup “to put a championship-level product on the court.” While the hoped for trade never happened, Jesse and Joey were able to find a young undrafted ready-to-play rim protector to backup Anthony Davis and volume 3-point shooter and elite defender to backup Austin Reaves.
So where does that leave the Lakers as they get ready for free agency? Hood-Schifino and Lewis are now trading chips, Lakers are still focused on Turner and Hield, and Castleton and Hodge could break into rotation.
Hood-Schifino and Lewis Are Now Trading Chips
While the Lakers could end up keeping Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, there’s a good chance one or both of them will be packaged along with Malik Beasley’s and Mo Bamba’s expiring contracts in a mega trade.
There’s some sentiment that the Lakers were trying to have their cake and eat it too by spending their 17th and 40th pick in the draft on two talented young players who are great for the future but not any help for the present. The truth is the Lakers simply picked players who not only fit their needs but were solid values they could flip. Hood-Schifino at #17 should have been a lottery pick and Lewis at #40 should have been a first round pick.
As Rob Pelinka publicly announced, the Lakers’ goal this offseason is to upgrade the team’s roster to be championship caliber. All that’s changed is the Lakers will now have two additional young players as trading chips. They can still offer either their 2029 or after June 30th their 2030 first round draft pick. Their most likely trade partners and targets are still the Pacers’ Turner and Hield and the Nets’ Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith.
While the Lakers were disappointed not to be able to find an acceptable draft day trade to upgrade their roster, they’re still committed to trading Beasley and Bamba along with newly drafted Hood-Schifino and Lewis.
Lakers Still Focused On Turner And Hield
The Los Angeles Lakers desperately need greater positional size and better 3-point shooting to transform themselves from a conference finals finisher to a legitimate contender to win the franchise’s 18th NBA championship.
That’s why it’s not a coincidence that the Lakers traded for Mo Bamba and Malik Beasley, signed Colin Castleton and D’moi Hodge as two-way players, or could be seeking to trade for the Pacers’ Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Lack of front court size and efficient 3-point shooting were why the Lakers championship run failed when they ran into the Denver Nuggets. Trading for the Pacers’ Myles Turner and Buddy Hield is the logical solution.
Before the start of training camp, the Lakers backed out of a proposed Turner and Hield trade at the last minute because they were uncertain whether the trade would make them a legitimate championship contender. After the major upgrades Pelinka engineered before the trade deadline, there’s no question that adding Turner and Hield today would likely make the Lakers the preseason favorites to win their 18th NBA championship.
The Lakers goal this week and next should be to trade Mo Bamba, Malik Beasley, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Max Lewis, and their 2029 top-5 protected first round pick to the Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
Castleton and Hodge Could Break Into Rotation
While they’ll start out as undrafted two-way players, Colin Castleton and D’moi Hodge will both have an opportunity to follow Austin Reaves path and earn rotation minutes and convert two-ways to standard contracts.
Colin Castleton is an undrafted 24-year old, 6′ 11″, 240 lb center with a 7′ 3″ wingspan from the University of Florida who has five years of college basketball experience and looks ready to contribute as a backup center. Colin is has a diverse skill set for a center. An elite defender, he averaged 3.0 blocks and 0.9 steals per game. He has a great handle, can go coast-to-coast with rebounds, and averaged 2.7 assists per game as a playmaker.
Like Malik Beasley and Buddy Hield, D’moi Hodge is a high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter who shot 40.1% on 7.0 3PA per game last season. What sets Hodge apart is he is also an elite perimeter defender. Last season, D’moi averaged 2.6 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. The problem the Lakers always face when they get elite shooters is whether they can play good enough defense to stay on the floor. D’moi Hodge can.
While Castleton and Hodge are older and have less upside than Hood-Schifino and Lewis, they both also have more mature games and should be ready to make a positive contribute as a rotation player this coming season.
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1672719692925108224
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1672719875016626177
None of those kids will crack the rotation anytime soon, if ever. Turner and Hield aren’t coming and will probably stink it up being 4th or worse options.
If we end up not making a trade, Colin Castleton will end up getting converted to a standard contract and become our backup center.
Same could happen with Hodge, as he’s the first 3-point shooter we’ve gotten who is also an elite perimeter defender.
College superstars end up being nobodies in the league. Not getting my hopes up over undrafted guys or 2nd rounders.
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1672720219784245249
The league gave every team a third Two-way player this season because teams are using two-ways to augment their roster so they can load manage more during the regular season.
Note that both of our two-ways are older guys with 5 years of college basketball who are far more ready to contribute than the 20-year olds we just drafted in the first two rounds.
The other benefit is undrafted players only cost $1M each rather than the $2M each for veterans. For top heavy salary teams like the Lakers, having three or four undrafted players can save $3-4M.
Finally, look at how Miami has found gems that make contributions with undrafted players. This draft was very strong and the quality extended into players not drafted. We may have some gems.
I’m not sure if the Lakers are focused on Turner and Buddy but according to the Pacer beat writers they are interested in Kuminga from the Warriors and Tobias Harris of the 76ers. Both big forwards. They are guard heavy and just drafted another in Ben Sheppard. Your trade sends 3 more guards to them. If the Lakers were thinking Pacers they should have drafted Cam Whitmore that fills the Pacers need for big forwards. The Pacers have repeatedly said they want to compete while building. Your trade doesn’t do that.
You could be right, Michael, but the trade was never about Beasley and Bamba. They were always just filler, which could allow a team to open up a lot of cap space next summer right before the second hard cap hits.
I think the Lakers took what they thought were the best fits and most tradable players in the draft. Chances are good both new draftees might be moved in a big trade. Might take multiple teams but there were teams who wanted them.
I do think the Lakers want to get bigger and would like to get Turner and I think they still covet Buddy. The question is will they pay the price to bring them both in.
Ideally, they need to get a legitimate 6′ 8″ 3&D wing who can start at small forward when we go small AND a stretch five center who can protect the rim when we go big.
If we don’t trade for Turner and Hield, I think we use the money to bring back Dlo and go for Naz Reid with the NT MLE.
Buddy is already an expiring contract so they don’t gain much there. And the Lakers willing to pay the price is irrelevant because it’s not a good deal for the Pacers. They want to win and they are not getting much of a return on Turner. If they were to move him, they could get more for him.
I just thought of something. The new NBA year doesn’t start until July first. The Pacers front loaded Turners contract with 35 mil deal. Probably in anticipation of a Ayton trade. Anyway his salary drops to 20 mil July first. But technically I believe we would need to send 30+ mil in a trade for him until the new year starts.
I think you’re right but the logical solution would be to just agree to the trade and then execute it when the new year starts.
They won’t trade Turner until the deadline, if then.
My sole reason for not trying too hard to trade Malik and Mo and suggesting we keep them for now is that they will have a lot more value come the deadline even if their on-court play doesn’t improve. Simply because their deals expire. That may even have worth to the Lakers, themselves, if injury strikes.