With Anthony Davis now gone, the Los Angeles Lakers are left with Jaxson Hayes as their lone healthy full-time center on the roster.
Christian Wood has been out the whole season with a knee injury while Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III are backup options on two-way contracts and thus limited to a certain amount of games. Hayes, meanwhile, has been acting as the starting center though he is several multitudes lower as a player than someone like Davis.
While Hayes might not be the same caliber of player, he’ll greatly benefit from playing alongside Luka Doncic who he noted was excited to work with.
“Yeah, obviously it’s really exciting with everything going on,” Hayes said after practice on Wednesday. “Obviously, we’ll miss our guys AD and Max and J. Hood. But there’s a bunch of changes coming on. A lot of us guys have to take full advantage of it, like me. Gotta step up. So I’m really excited to get to play with Luka. He’s a great facilitator, one of the best lob passers in the league. So I’m just really excited to get to work with him.”
Without Davis, Hayes has a pathway to more minutes and expressed how good of a situation he’s in now.
“You obviously, like wherever you are in the NBA, you gotta try to make the most out of it. Try to make a name for yourself. But like obviously, like better fits for better players. And I feel personally, I feel like this might be one of the best fits, like team-wise for guys for me to play with personally. It’s just me selfishly speaking. I’m really excited about it. I’m just really excited to get to work.”
Lastly, the Lakers have been open about their desire to add another big man and while Hayes believes the team is fine as is, he would welcome another center.
“I feel like we’ll be fine. Obviously definitely would love to have another big with me,” Hayes admitted. “And then not be the only, only five right now besides our younger guys. But if a trade happens, I’d love it. It’d only be good for the team. So obviously I’d be happy about that. And still take full advantage of my minutes.”
Overall, the center position needs to be addressed at the trade deadline to give Los Angeles a legitimate shot to compete for a title. Hayes is fine in a backup role, but an upgrade is badly needed.
Jaxson Hayes feels very prepared for elevated role with Anthony Davis gone
Anthony Davis was the heart and soul of the Lakers on both ends of the floor, but Hayes feels prepared to assume more responsibility.
“I feel like I’m very prepared,” Hayes said. “God’s blessed me with a bunch of talents and a bunch of abilities, and I’m fully ready to take full advantage of it. And blessed me with this opportunity now, with the new team and with all the new guys, and so just ready to take advantage of it.”
It’s good to hear Hayes is embracing the change, but it remains to be seen how effective he’ll be in a larger role.
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