Crucial free agent decisions loom for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason and center Jaxson Hayes is one of them. Hayes is coming off arguably his best season in purple and gold and even often found himself closing games over Deandre Ayton.
Hayes brings energy with his athleticism, and even more so with his thunderous dunks, which were on display in Game 4 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite a disappointing end to the season, Hayes admitted that he would like to return to the Lakers in free agency.
“Yeah, of course. I love this group of guys, I love this staff, I love this organization as a whole,” Hayes said after the Lakers were eliminated. “I grew up watching Kobe and I just love to be a Laker. I wear Kobes every day. I’d love to stay here, obviously. I hope so.”
Free agency is unpredictable, and things may not pan out as a player hopes, but the backup big man shared that he is focused on improving his game so he can be ready for next season.
“To be fair, I’ve been a free agent the past two summers,” Hayes said. “So, just gonna do it the same way, making sure I get better this summer every day and work on parts of my game. Just try to be ready for next year.”
The Lakers will likely have interest in bringing Hayes back once again as he developed a nice chemistry with Luka Doncic in a short time. It will be interesting to see what his market looks like, as L.A. will likely use their cap space elsewhere before circling back to the backup center position.
Los Angeles will certainly explore avenues to upgrade the starting center position. In the postseason, Hayes showed struggles against physical, strong bigs and head coach JJ Redick had times where it was hard to find a reliable center.
The Lakers would like a rim protector and defensive anchor, which are skillsets that neither Ayton nor Hayes could really provide.
Jaxson Hayes obtained Slovenian passport to play with Luka Doncic
As mentioned, Hayes developed a great on-court relationship with Doncic and he clearly loves playing with the Slovenian star. So much so that Hayes obtained a Slovenian passport to play with Doncic in FIBA this summer.
Unfortunately, the Lakers star announced shortly after their season ended that he would not be representing his country due to an ongoing custody battle for his two daughters.
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