Jaxson Hayes is a bonafide starter for contending Lakers

Jaxson Hayes is maximizing his opportunities with the Lakers and turning it into a career year.

LOS ANGELES — While Luka Dončić and LeBron James shined brightest in the Lakers' win over the Pelicans on Tuesday, their seventh in a row, someone else’s light has consistently flickered during this new era and deserves a spotlight.

The pair of Luka and LeBron may have combined for 64 points on the night, but Jaxson Hayes was lockstep with the pair when it came to standout performances. All 19 of his season-high points came in the opening two frames as he finished with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds as well.

With Anthony Davis gone, he’s started in every game. While that might’ve been a worrying proposition earlier this year, he’s stepped up in a big way, averaging 8.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and a team-high 1.3 blocks per game since being slotted into the starting lineup.

Hayes also has the third-best plus-minus during this winning streak at +117. Having Hayes as your intended starter before would’ve been laughable, but now the thought of benching him is out of the question.

In Tuesday’s win, he kept it simple and made it unstoppable. Hayes ran the floor like a cheetah and attacked the basket like a lion.

“Jaxson, again, organization, his spacing, being disciplined when we were setting ball screens with him,” Redick said. “I thought other than two possessions in the first half, we had the right spacing. When we weren’t setting ball screens with him, he was in the dunker and he was opposite the ball and that led to some dunks. Jaxson played really well tonight.”

He immediately began the game with lobs from LeBron and Luka. The LeBron-Hayes connection has been established for a couple of seasons now, but the Luka-Hayes tandem has just begun and these early results have been encouraging.

“You see it in the first couple games, we still had to get the feel for each other, where he’s going to be and I think that’s getting better,” Luka said. “He’s really good at reading those situations. If the guy behind me when he sets the screen goes over, he slips that and he’s fast for center and he gets open looks.”

The second quarter was more of the same from Hayes.

He went a perfect 6-6 in the second quarter and while the acrobatic plays he has are something to marvel at, one of his most impressive buckets was an and-one over CJ McCollum. He stayed on the Lakers’ side of the court and patiently finished through contact to get the basket and the foul.

Offensively, Hayes has always been a self-aware player. He understands his job is to run the floor and finish on lobs. However, not only has he become even more efficient in doing this, but his defense is also much improved.

Earlier this season, he would try to aggressively gamble on defense and lose. At times, he looked completely lost and even in short shifts, he was frustrating to watch.

Recently, he’s become much more patient and smarter about picking his spots. He’s stood his ground inside and done his best to manage other teams’ ability to attack the paint.

Hayes is still far from perfect. Even in this game, he had five fouls.

But, if he can continue giving this effort, it raises his defensive floor and that’s another way the Lakers can keep winning on the margins and in the final score.

Hayes can’t replace AD and no one is asking him to. However, if he can play at this level the rest of the way, it gives LA a center they can trust as they enter the most important stretch of the year.

Luka and LeBron will continue to get the spotlight this season, but if LA is going to be a serious contender come the spring, Hayes will be a focal point. And this latest stretch of games has shown glimpses that he may be ready for the challenge.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.