The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed center Jaxson Hayes to a one-year contract, it was announced by president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hayes is returning for a third season in purple in gold. He played in 126 games (40 starts) over the last two years and averaged 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 72.1% from the field in 15.6 minutes per game.
After the Lakers completed their blockbuster deal for Luka Doncic in the middle of last season, Hayes entered the starting lineup permanently due to the departure of Anthony Davis and really seemed to come into his own. Hayes created an immediate chemistry with Doncic as an athletic lob threat and pick-and-roll partner.
Unfortunately, Hayes was not able to replicate that success in the playoffs and saw his minutes dwindle to the point where he not only lost his starting job, but he didn’t even play a single minute in L.A.’s Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
At just 25 years of age, the hope is that Hayes will continue to grow and improve with the Lakers’ coaching staff. There was some speculation that he might not want to return to L.A. after falling out of the rotation in the playoffs, but he shot that down earlier this offseason and is now obviously back with the team for another season.
The good news with this signing is that the Lakers are not bringing back the former lottery pick out of Texas to be their starting center. The team was also able to sign Deandre Ayton, so he will presumably start with Hayes serving as his backup depending on what other moves the Lakers make this summer.
Jaxson Hayes respected JJ Redick’s decision to bench him
Jaxson Hayes has a previous relationship with Lakers head coach JJ Redick from when they were teammates on the New Orleans Pelicans. So while Hayes obviously wasn’t happy to be benched in the postseason, he understood and respected Redick’s decision.
“I mean, they told me. They were up straight with me in just saying to stay ready and they were gonna try some other things out. That was the coach’s decision, so I respect that always,” Hayes said.
With Hayes willingly re-signing with the Lakers, it’s safe to say his relationship with Redick was not affected by last year’s postseason.
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