In the summer of 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers took a flyer on Scotty Pippen Jr., a small guard from Vanderbilt University, by signing him as an undrafted free agent. He suited up for their summer league entry, but he didn’t look like much of a viable NBA-level prospect.
He lacked explosiveness or a good first step, which limited his ability to penetrate, and he struggled with turnovers and his outside shot. He barely played for the Lakers last season, and it seemed like he had only a scant chance of remaining in the league.
Los Angeles waived him this past October, and in January, the Memphis Grizzlies signed him to a two-way contract. A gnarly rash of injuries then forced him to play significant minutes for the big-league Grizzlies.
On Friday, the Lakers got a close look at their old prospect from Vanderbilt, and the son of Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen burned them. He scored 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting, to go along with six assists, five rebounds and four steals.
He attacked the basket quite often, and one had to wonder where the quickness and ability to get past defenders had been during his brief time in L.A.
The Lakers should’ve kept Pippen, at least on a two-way deal
Hindsight is 20/20, and a year ago, or even six months ago, predicting that the younger Pippen may barely survive in the NBA seemed reasonable. But teams are able to monitor young prospects in between games and during the offseason, and they’re able to see how much work they put into their craft and how dedicated they are.
The younger Pippen has obviously put in lots of work on his game in recent months. As a result, he’s averaging 12.8 points on 48.4% overall shooting and 43.5% from 3-point range, 4.6 assists and 1.8 steals in 25.1 minutes over 20 games for Memphis this season.
Los Angeles is in a situation where it needs to maximize its draft picks and undrafted free agent signings. It has certainly done so with Austin Reaves, but it has had a habit of letting such prospects leave while getting nothing in return.
It happened with Alex Caruso a couple of years ago, and it has also let viable players such as Ivica Zubac, Larry Nance Jr. and even former lottery pick Julius Randle depart in recent years.
Perhaps the younger Pippen’s play this season will turn out to be fool’s gold. But if he had been furiously working hard and working smart, the Lakers should’ve taken notice and at least kept him around on a two-way contract for one more year to let him develop.
