Only 22 years old! Can Lakers former player Ciffino still stay in the NBA?

Brothers, do you still remember Ciffino?

The free market has been opened for two months. The 22-year-old No. 17th pick in the first round, which was only 22 years old and in 2023, has not only no team is willing to rescue him with a two-way contract, but also can't even see half of the rumors.

Considering the age and ranking of Ciffino, this situation is quite rare in NBA history, and the reason is nothing more than a scattered dish.

As we said, Ciffino is the 17th pick in the first round of 2023. This pick is not high, but it is definitely not low.

The ones ahead of him are Keyant George (16th pick), and behind him are Jaime Hax Jr. (18th pick), Pojmsky (19th pick), and Whitmore (20th pick).

The above are all good performances or show some potential in the rookie season, but it is not an exaggeration to describe the performance of Ciffino's rookie season as a word of miserable.

First of all, Ciffino's performance was not like a first-round pick. In his 4 games, he averaged 18.7 minutes per game, scored only 2.8 points, shot 16% from the field (you read it right), shot 0% from three-pointers (0 of 9 shots), and shot 50% from free throws (3 of 6 shots).

In the subsequent regular season, other first-round picks were getting better and better, while Ciffino directly lost himself: he only played 21 games in total, averaged 5.2 minutes per game, scored 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists, shooting percentage of 22.2%, and three-point shooting percentage of 13.3%.

In addition to the reasons for the rotation, Ciffino also suffered knee injuries and back injuries this season. The injuries will definitely have an impact, but objectively speaking, even if he is not injured, he may not be able to get many opportunities.

Next is last season, and Ciffino's performance is still bleak.

Preseason, Sifino played all six games, averaging 19.8 minutes per game, only scored 4.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists, shooting percentage of 28.6%, three-point shooting percentage of 10.0%, and 2.2 turnovers.

Is the Lakers not giving him a chance? Obviously not. For example, in the last game of the preseason against the Warriors, the Lakers' main players were all resting in this game, just to train young players. Then Ciffino started for 32 minutes, shot 3 of 10 shots, scored only 6 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, pay attention, 6 turnovers.

As a comparison, Knector, who also had the 17th overall pick in the first round, performed last season's pre-season performance: averaged 18.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists, shooting percentage of 43.7% and three-point shooting percentage of 36.0%.

The penultimate game played against the Suns, Kneckett scored 35 points + 8 three-pointers, 12 points in the fourth quarter + a tie for three-pointers, and 13 points in overtime. He directly rested himself in one game.

Due to the poor performance, not long after the regular season started last season, the Lakers announced that they would not execute the third-year team option of Ciffino's rookie contract - almost the lottery pick, but were abandoned by the team the next year, which can be said to be quite rare in NBA history.

Later in the Doncic trade, Ciffino was sent to the Jazz, but the Jazz, who was in the reconstruction period, did not leave him behind and quickly cut him off. After

was laid off, Ciffino joined 76ers with a two-way contract.

Due to injuries suffered by many core players last season, Ciffino got many opportunities. He played in a total of 13 games, averaging 23.2 minutes per game, but only handed over 7.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists, shooting percentage of 37.1% and three-point shooting percentage of 30.4%.

It is worth mentioning that this summer league, Xifino also represented the 76ers, but his performance was still disappointing. Among them, the 76ers lost 41 points against the Spurs. Xifino started for 21 minutes, made 0 of 4 shots, 0 of 1 three-pointer, and did not score a single point. He made 6 fouls and the highest in the game, with a plus-negative value as low as -19.

After this game, draft media Draft Dummies tweeted to comment on Ciffino: "A player like Ciffino is very rare. Everyone will immediately know that he is a parallel person at first glance. He has never seemed to be able to play in the NBA."

So the question is, why would the Lakers choose him with the 17th pick for a player like Ciffino?

Open the draft report of Shifino, which says that Shifino is 1.98 meters tall (actually 1.93 meters), has an arm span of 2.08 meters, and weighs 98 kg. He is a double-sport guard who is good at pick-and-roll, has certain passing ability, and can defend. His best template for the draft is considered Deron. Before the draft, the Lakers were interested in his defensive potential and organizational ability as a tall point guard, hoping to make up for the shortcomings of the back line and invest in the future. At that time, he believed that Ciffino was a "safety card" that had both certain combat power and cultivation value.

However, Ciffino's development did not meet expectations. Not only did he shrink his height, his offensive efficiency and shooting stability problems have not improved. In addition, due to the impact of injuries, he was eventually abandoned by the Lakers.

Judging from the Jazz's reaction and the performance of the 76ers, Ciffino's immediate combat power and potential are limited, and he is indeed not a player worth training.

Of course, this does not mean that no one wants Shifino. After all, he is still young and the development league is performing well. Maybe there will be teams willing to scratch the lottery, but no matter how much you scratch, it is likely that thank you for your patronage.