The Los Angeles Lakers have done well to unearth talent in the undrafted free agent pool and they might’ve struck gold again with Colin Castleton.
Castleton was considered a second-round prospect by most talent evaluators but chose to go undrafted in order to land with the Lakers. With Los Angeles needing more big man depth, Castleton was a perfect fit and he showed the organization he could be a keeper with his strong play during his first Summer League experience.
The 23-year-old displayed his ability to play on both ends and developed a budding two-man game with Jalen Hood-Schifino. Castleton discussed Hood-Schifino’s game and how the pair was able to improve together during their time in Summer League.
“Yeah, 100 percent. He’s a great playmaking guard who can also score as well. I saw throughout the games, me and him were talking like just good dialogue. Where am I gonna be on a roll, where am I gonna be near the rim, where he should throw it up or low at certain times. So being able to just to talk and have communication with my point guard is always something that’s big for me being able to just connect with them so they understand like I’m always going to be an outlet for you. So if you get into trouble or something, know you can rely on me and I’ll give it right back to you to get in a good spot. So just having that good dialogue and connection, I feel like ours grew throughout Summer League and like I said going into the season’s going to get better.”
Both Castleton and Hood-Schifino are high IQ players that read the floor, so perhaps it wasn’t too surprising to see them mesh on the court as quickly as they did. Castleton has a knack for finding players in open space that helped Hood-Schifino get to his spots while in return the guard was able to get into the paint and set up the center for easy baskets.
While the two rookies likely won’t see too much playing time during the regular season, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to build on their foundation with the South Bay Lakers. It’s early, but Castleton and Hood-Schifino look like pieces worth keeping long term.
Colin Castleton focused on gaining weight and improving jump shot during offseason
While Castleton showed off great touch and feel with the basketball, there were also some clear areas of improvement. The Florida product has a plan in the offseason, though, to improve his body by gaining weight as well as working on his jump shot.
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