Lakers News: LeBron James Credits Jaxson Hayes For Improvements
Yesterday at 04:18 PM
When the Los Angeles Lakers traded away Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic, it created a massive hole at the center position. Jaxson Hayes was the only healthy and available center on a standard NBA contract, and would be starting next to Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
The Lakers swiftly tried to remedy this by agreeing to terms with the Charlotte Hornets on a deal for Mark Williams, but that fell through due to a failed physical. This led Hayes back to the starting role with no other choice than for the Lakers to ride with him.
But playing alongside Doncic — and James in a greater capacity — has unlocked Hayes’ game to an unexpected degree. He is shooting an absurd 78.1% from the field in the 21 games he’s played since Luka’s debut and he’s shown himself to be exactly what L.A. needed in such a dire situation at the center position.
On his first episode of “Mind the Game” with Steve Nash, James spoke about Hayes’ contributions to the Lakers since taking over as the starting center:
"Well, first of all, I've gotta give a big shoutout and credit to Jaxson Hayes, man. Him stepping into that void, losing AD, it's a lot. It's a lot of scoring, a lot of protection defensively, a lot of rebounding, a lot of blocked shots. But I think Jaxson was just like 'I can't make up for that.' And we didn't ask him to make up for that. We needed Jaxson to be higher energy, be a force on offense, run the bigs, great screening, lob threat. But he's just made great decisions. He's been able to catch it in the pocket and stay on balance and either be able to dunk it home or find guys on the perimeter. Jaxson has been unbelievable in his minutes, and we're going to need that from him. We know how it unlocks Luka as well, when it comes to pick-and-roll with a lob threat. Having those minutes with Jaxson is key."
LeBron puts it best that the Lakers — and Hayes himself — are not expecting him to be a Davis replacement. Instead, he just needs to be exactly who he is, an athletic lob threat to help unlock Doncic’s best work.
It’s unclear if the Lakers are going to stick with Hayes in the offseason or invest resources in landing a higher caliber center. But in the meantime, Hayes has been better than advertised, and huge for the Lakers as they’ve worked towards becoming a championship contender.
JJ Redick speaks to Jaxson Hayes’ importance
Ahead of Monday's game against the Houston Rockets, JJ Redick spoke about the growth he's seen from Jaxson Hayes since taking on a bigger role and his importance to the Lakers' success.
"I think just the commitment to trying to get better every day," Redick said. "Ralik (Wise) has done a great job with him throughout the season. He's very receptive in film, in his PD work, he's very receptive to our coaching in front of the group and film. I think that the growth mentality that he's had this year has been really awesome and I've told him this a number of times over the last week or so, he's so important for us if we're wanting to win at the highest level. He's gotta be elite. And that's not to put pressure on him because he has guys that can take that pressure off him. But we need him on the floor. We need him to stay out of foul trouble, we need him to lay off the referees. He's gotta be locked in, and he's been that. He's been awesome for us."
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