Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. impresses in summer debut; Lakers’ Jalen Hood-Schifino eases in
Two rookies for contending teams, hoping to add depth to already talented rosters, made their summer league debuts at the California Classic in Sacramento on Monday: Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat and Jalen Hood-Schifino of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jaquez, a UCLA alum, was the star. He scored 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, going 3 of 7 from 3-point range, with three rebounds and one assist in Miami’s 107-90 victory.
Jaquez scored 14 points in the first half while hitting five of his first nine shots, including a highlight-reel dunk while he was fouled in the second quarter. He added an impressive finish on an alley oop in the third. He scored 19 points in his first 19 minutes before hitting a late 3-pointer just before leaving the game.
The Heat drafted Jaquez 18th overall in June’s NBA draft out of UCLA. There has been speculation he could be involved in a trade to acquire star point guard Damian Lillard from the Portland Trailblazers, but Jaquez is ineligible to be traded until 30 days after signing his rookie contract, which he inked Sunday.
Hood-Schifino, meanwhile, got off to a slower start, scoring just two points in the first half. He finished with 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting while missing all five of his 3s. He added five rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.
The Lakers took the 20-year-old with the 17th pick out of Indiana and hope he can develop into a rotation player while L.A. added a handful of free agents including Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish. Second-round pick Maxwell Lewis, taken 40th overall, had seven points in 16 minutes.
Max Christie, who appeared 41 games for the Lakers last season, scored 17 points in 32 minutes, going 6 of 11 from the floor with six rebounds and four assists.
This story was originally published July 3, 2023 at 6:08 PM.
