LOS ANGELES – With the Los Angeles Lakers hiring JJ Redick as their head coach, there is at least one player on the roster who finds it a little weird and that’s Jaxson Hayes.
Jaxson Hayes was a rookie with the New Orleans Pelicans while JJ Redick was still on the roster and playing. For that reason, Hayes joked at Lakers media day that it’s still a little strange for him.
“It’s definitely a little weird at first for sure. Coming into my rookie year he was one of the guys I looked up to, he was one of my teammates. We were in the same second group that came in and played together,” Hayes said. “We played a two-man game out there. Obviously, as you all know, he’s a very good shooter so I got to play a lot of tw0-man game with him. It’s simply been a little, not awkward, but weird the dynamic. But I’m fully looking forward to it this year and really excited about it.”
The Atlanta Hawks originally drafted Hayes with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft but had his rights immediately traded to the Pelicans. He played with Redick for his first season and a half before Redick was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Hayes would play two more seasons with the Pelicans before signing with the Lakers as a free agent in the 2023 offseason.
Jaxson Hayes expected to be Lakers backup center
With Christian Wood sidelined due to injury to begin the season, Jaxson Hayes is expected to be the primary backup center. It was a position he was slotted into last season after Wood went down with a similar injury.
Hayes is coming into his second season with the Lakers after opting in to the final year of the two-year deal he signed last summer. He appeared in 70 games for the Lakers last season, including five starts, at a little over 12 minutes per game.
He averaged 4.3 points and 3.0 rebounds with splits of 72 percent shooting from the field and 62.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line. In the playoffs though, Hayes’ role decreased as he only saw around six minutes of playing time per game during the Lakers’ first round playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets.
But he has his chance to really make a mark on the court to begin the year as the primary backup big man. He spoke about the early conversations with Redick and what he’s worked on to be more effective on the court.
“Really just playing out of the pocket, being more dynamic in the pocket, making better reads whether it’s passing or shooting my little touch shot, shooting a little midi [mid-range], getting the ball going to the next action, just stuff like that,” Hayes said. “Working to just be more effective and more aggressive with my actions, and just looking to not foul as much this year too. Working on my screening. . .without illegal screens so I don’t pick up one illegal screen per game anymore. So just little things like that.”
The Lakers have officially begun training camp and will play their first preseason game on Friday, Oct. 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
