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Lakers make announcement about 2023 draft class
Jalen Hood-Schifino with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 17th by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft. Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Lakers have officially locked up their two 2023 NBA Draft picks, announcing Saturday in a press release that they’ve signed Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis to their first NBA contracts, via Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group.

The No. 17 overall pick, Hood-Schifino is in line for a four-year contract worth up to $17.9M, including $3.7M in year one, assuming he signs for 120% of the standard rookie scale, which virtually every first-rounder does.

The 6-foot-6 wing, who spent last season at Indiana, was named the Big Ten Rookie of the Year after averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.1 minutes per game across 32 contests (all starts). He declared for the draft as an early entrant after a strong freshman year.

Lewis, meanwhile, was the No. 40 overall pick, so the details of his deal aren’t yet known. However, it’s likely that the Lakers used the new second-round pick exception to sign him to a three- or four-year contract that will include a team option on the final season.

Lewis spent two college seasons at Pepperdine before entering the draft following his sophomore year this spring. In 2022-23, he put up 17.1 points per night on .468/.348/.787 shooting, adding 5.7 RPG and 2.8 APG in 31 games (31.4 MPG).

With Hood-Schifino and Lewis under contract, the Lakers are carrying 13 players on standard deals and three on two-ways. They’ll make at least one more roster addition, but won’t necessarily carry a full 15-man standard roster to start the 2023-24 regular season.

As our list of draft-pick signings shows, 43 players from the 2023 draft class have now officially signed with their respective teams.

This article first appeared on Hoops Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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