After an up-and-down first season in Los Angeles, can Jaxson Hayes find consistency with the Lakers this season?
Welcome to our Lakers Season Preview Series! For the next several weeks, we’ll be writing columns every weekday, breaking down the biggest questions we have about every player the Lakers added this offseason. Today, we take a look at Jaxson Hayes.
Of the trio of veteran minimum contracts with player options that the Lakers handed out last summer, the one that came with the least bit of pain when it was picked up a year later was Jaxson Hayes.
In fact, it might have even been a little surprising that Hayes, even after a mixed season, returned to Los Angeles to a backup role instead of seeking a larger spot in a rotation — and a potentially bigger payday — elsewhere.
Instead, he returns to the Lakers after finishing the second half of last season on a strong note. Can he build off of that even under a new head coach and fly high, figuratively and literally, into his second year in Los Angeles?
Early in the season last year, Hayes found himself in the rotation, but was underwhelming. Foul trouble followed him, leading to him falling out of the rotation. In a 15-game stretch in January, Hayes played just seven times and only once played double-digit minutes.
But things changed beginning with a road game in Houston. While the Lakers were throttled in that game, something clicked for Hayes individually.
From then through the remainder of the season, Hayes averaged 15.8 minutes per game, 5.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest. Most importantly, he averaged fewer than two fouls per game to end the year.
He also showed his familiarity playing in a five-out system. Despite not being a floor-spacer with his range, his eagerness to run dribble hand-offs on the perimeter and utilize his strong rolling ability made him a threat in a different way.
When envisioning things going well in purple and gold this season, it’s hard to imagine something better than those final 34 games. He was a high-leaping energizer bunny, making the hustle and effort players you look for from a backup big man. The fouls came down and he was vital with Christian Wood out injured.
This season will start much like that one ended with Wood out and the Lakers relying heavily on Hayes. If he can replicate the form he showed at the end of last year, the Lakers are going to be in a good spot to start this year.
In an ideal world where the Lakers find depth at the center position, Hayes would play more minutes this season alongside Anthony Davis. The pair played just 89 minutes together last season and had a +2.4 net rating.
Seeing more of that pairing, who complement each other well in theory, could lead to success this season.
Well, we also saw pretty close to his worst-case scenario last year, too. The opening 48 games for Hayes were rough for all the reasons described above.
The fouling — particularly illegal screens — was frustrating to start last year. Hayes noted that film work helped him turn that part of his game around, which has also long been in his game. Similarly, he is not a good rebounder, even when he plays well.
Both things stick out like a sore thumb when things are going bad, as evidenced by this tweet a month before his turnaround last season.
Jaxson Hayes has a rebound percentage this season of 8.7%, a percentage lower than Austin Reaves.
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) December 16, 2023
He also averages 6.5 fouls per-36 minutes, the highest mark in the league of anyone with 20 games played.
The Lakers will be relying on Hayes more than they would probably like to start this season. They need him to be good. If he replicates last season’s start, there is no Plan B this time.
The very nature of the question “Which Jaxson Hayes will the Lakers get?” explains why he’s in this position this deep into his career. Yes, he is still 24, but there’s also five years of evidence of him being an inconsistent player.
Regardless of his inconsistency, though, he will be the team’s primary backup center for the season's opening months. Someone like Christian Koloko will be given a chance, and maybe he really shines to start the year, but the Lakers still need Hayes to be good, so the opportunities will come.
It’s a suboptimal position to be in, relying on a player on a veteran’s minimum without much cover outside of him. But if he produces as he did for nearly half of last season, the Lakers could be off to a strong start to the season for the first time in a long time.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
