One day after finding their starting center in former No. 1 draft pick Deandre Ayton, the Lakers brought back a familiar face to be his backup.
Jaxson Hayes will return to the Lakers on a one-year contract, a source confirmed to the Southern California News Group on Thursday.
Hayes, the No. 8 pick in the 2019 draft, originally joined the Lakers on a two-year, $4.6 million contract during the 2023 offseason.
He stepped into the most significant role of his career as the Lakers’ starting center after the team traded perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the deal that brought Luka Doncic to Los Angeles.
Initially, Hayes thrived, playing the best basketball of his young career.
The 7-foot, 220-pound big man averaged 9.3 points (78.2% shooting), 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 24 games (23.6 minutes) as the Lakers’ starting center from Jan. 30 to March 27 – a period that included Davis being sidelined for a couple of games with an injury before being traded and Doncic and LeBron James being sidelined for stretches because of injury/injury management.
But as the regular season came to a close, Hayes’ playing time diminished even as he remained the team’s starting center.
Hayes averaged just 17 minutes over the final eight regular-season games he played in, recording 4.6 points (on 64% shooting) and 5 rebounds, as the Lakers relied even more on center-less lineups during the season’s final stretch.
And his time on the court was reduced even more during the Lakers’ first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves: eight minutes played in Game 1; nine minutes in Games 2 and 3; and just four in Game 4 before being taken out of the starting lineup and receiving a DNP-CD (did not play – coach’s decision) in the Lakers’ season-ending Game 5 loss.
“They told me and were straight with me, just saying just to stay ready and they were going to try some other things out,” Hayes said of the coaching staff’s decision to decrease Hayes’ role in the playoff series during his end-of-season press conference. “That’s a coach’s decision, so I respect that.”
Hayes, 25, finished the series with more fouls (eight) than he did points (seven), and had just as many fouls as rebounds and shot attempts in 30 minutes, with bad habits popping back up at the worst time.
“I feel like I grew a good amount … just on the defensive end, stepping up and showing I can compete at the high level, and not just be a backup for a team,” Hayes said. “I feel like I showed I can be out there playing more. Obviously, there’s still a ton I need to work on. But I felt pretty good through the regular season.”