Jaxson Hayes Discussion: Playing With His Hair On Fire

Peeps need to stop diminishing what Hayes does simply because of the greatness of Luka. Hayes being a great screener and a bonified lob threat opens the floor for Luka too. As we saw last game with Koloko who wasn't finishing those passes and plays. Teams can lay off him and push up on Luka. Hayes being that true threat helps Luka in the paint and on the roll.

Fans seem to not realize that great roll players make great players successful. Look at KD right now. Bro is one of the best in the game and he is HATING life right now. Think of Kobe before he got Gasol and LO. Hayes is a great roll player who the team doesn't need to run plays for yet he gets cleanup points and lob points.

Anyway, loving what Hayes is doing this season

 

That behind the back from AR to Hayes was SICK!!

https://x.com/NBA/status/1901362667...io/iframe/twitter.min.html1901362667924910267

 

Completely agree. He cannot get his own points though, so when Luka is injured, it's like one and a half guys are injured. I think he is a great second stringer, if we can find a solid center who has more brawn and can get his own shot. They don't appear to grow on trees, most of those guys are playing hockey now. Now that the NBA has made no place for them in the league. Haha. I am happy that Hayes has shown this ability. I still wonder what ever happened to Wood and if he will ever play again?? Could he contribute?? Seems like he was considered our first option ahead of Hayes at one point.

 

That was spectacular from both AR and Hayes.

 

Yeah, I’m going to keep posting my opinion.
Otherwise, this place would be the exact same as all the mainstream media outlets: sharing the same scripted narrative.

 

Same scripted narrative? Maybe you’re just wrong like with Christie? IMO. You’re entitled yours but lose that other crap.

 

I don't think my post said for people not to post their narratives. I shared my "narrative" based on what I've seen in this thread by people whose opinion is that Hayes is only decent because of Luka which is not true. Having contrary opinions is part of discourse but taking nothing from a well thought out response to simply state a "firm" opinion isnt about fixing a narrative it is about trying to be right, imo.

In any case, my post was actually contrary to the narratives out there about Hayes.

 

You have me mixed up with another poster. I was a Champion of Max since we drafted him.
As for the “other crap,” it’s been proven to be true whether some want to believe it or not.

 

I was talking about equating it to here by bringing it up. Re: Max you and I went back and forth because I said in his prime he will be “performing” at an all star level (whether or not he actually gets voted in).

 

Okay, but I was never down on the kid- just didn’t think he would reach All Star status(obviously, he hasn’t made it to his prime).

 

"Peeps need to stop diminishing..." Is my opinion of how fans are responding. I don't control you ability to respond as you did and felt free to do. Again, just as you responded to part of my original post I too am free to have the opinion that bad takes are not good. Additionally, I didn't respond directly to anyone so anyone who felt "attacked" that is on them.

Anyway, this is the Hayes thread and its about his play. So I have no desire to derail it.

 

Caught them sleeping.

Nice one tonight. 9 points and a game high 11 boards

 

Agreed, guy is legit and gets better almost every game. I got no issues with him being our starter. Some strongman enforcer to back up and pound on guys and we're good.

 

He's still only 24 but it is strange going back into the earlier pages how some were saying he had to go, isn't even a good 2nd/3rd string center, etc.,

Under the right circumstances, which is the Lakers, he's a better player than he really is. There's a reason the Lakers tried to go after other starting centers. Hayes, IMO, is a solid second string center who can play starting center minutes for most matchups because of the lob threat paired with Luka and Bron.

I'm really happy he has stepped up but there's also the reality that the Lakers still need a starting caliber center who can take the team to the next level. Even though the Lakers gave up a ton to get Mark Williams initially, I still think they should have kept that deal. Mark Williams has been killing it lately.

In the playoffs, Lakers are probably going to fall back on Hayes and use a rotation of guys like Rui, DFS, Vando, and Bron to collapse the paint against other centers. I don't see Trey, Len, or Koloko getting any playing time.

 

He's getting better regardless of the Luka factor , including on defense . He's slim and agile so he's better equipped to guard wings on switches than physical big ( there aren't many) .

 

i said a few posts back that he's starting to really figure out what to do on those catches in the center of the floor, both short roll and blitz release valve situations. this was something that really helped capela go from where hayes is to where he got a few years ago (this and a lot of bulk that i suspect may have been drug-aided...).

yeah, the rest of your post was about getting a starting center, but i'm really not sure that's the way we're going. i think the playoff rotation is jj's preferred scheme anyway, and that we'll just look for a second hayes instead of spending bigger on a center. i think jj is comfortable basically not playing a center for 15-20mpg.

 

I’m so sorry that I got confused that your “Peeps need to stop diminishing what Hayes does simply because of the greatness of Luka” comment had absolutely nothing to do with my post on the contrary the night before. How dare I.
Not attacked, but it’s obvious you were calling out those who differ from your opinion. Again, you are acting like you are the arbiter of what is and what isn’t a “bad take.”
That’s you, not me.

 

Exactly. He's much improved and a better player than he was 2 years ago.

First off, his opponent FG% is in elite category. Much better than "starting caliber" centers like Al Horford, Ivica Zubac, or Dereck Lively. His 2024-25 numbers are on par with Wemby and surprisingly even better than AD. And this is not a small sample size.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/opponent-shooting?PlayerPosition=C&StarterBench=Starters

That's on top of being an elite screen setter and elite lob threat on offense. His TRB% is slightly below average but with his strengths on offense/defense it's really nitpicking.

Again, who could we target that is a better fit than Hayes? Yes it would be great if we can get prime Dwight but who can we legitimately get that is so much better than Hayes in our system? Keep in mind that we will likely lose Knecht in a possible trade for a "starting caliber" center.