<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-suns-defender-2-handed-poster');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes absolutely destroys Suns defender with 2-handed poster');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_0388.jpeg"><figcaption>Allan Henry-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes absolutely destroys Suns defender with 2-handed poster</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-14T19:41:08-08:00">December 14th, 7:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-14T19:43:46-08:00">December 14th, 7:43pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers came into their game against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday looking to wipe the bitter taste of their NBA Cup defeat by the San Antonio Spurs out of their mouth. So far, the Lakers were on their way to doing just that, as they held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. One play that summed up the Lakers’ effort against the Suns was big man Jaxson Hayes <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000401474715783559" rel="noopener">throwing down a poster</a> dunk.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">JAXSON HAYES THROWS IT DOWN OVER OSO IGHODARO 😳<a href="https://t.co/H7NPm6crmV">pic.twitter.com/H7NPm6crmV</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000401474715783559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 15, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Jaxson Hayes’ dunk came late in the third quarter as the Lakers were trying to create separation from the Suns. Jake LaRavia came up with a steal, shot out on the break, and found the trailing Hayes who threw down a monster, two-handed jam over Oso Ighodaro. Hayes was fouled on the play, sending him to the free-throw line.</p><p>As the Lakers prepared for their clash against the Suns, one of the major talking points was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jarred-vanderbilt-worrying-trend-la-defense">the team’s defensive woes</a>, something <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-growing-pains-truth-bomb-defense">Hayes himself has spoken abou</a>t earlier this season. As of publication, the Lakers were holding the Suns to under 100 points late in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Hayes has been a difference maker for the Lakers this season, serving primarily as the team’s backup center behind Deandre Ayton. Coming into Sunday’s game, he had appeared in 21 games, including two starts, at a little over 16 minutes per game.</p><p>He had been averaging 5.2 points, 4.0 assists and 1.0 assists with splits of 72.6 percent shooting from the field, 100 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 62.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Late in the fourth quarter against the Suns, Hayes had 12 points, nine rebounds and two assists.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes absolutely destroys Suns defender with 2-handed poster

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-growing-pains-truth-bomb-defense');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes drops ‘growing pains’ truth bomb on Lakers’ defense');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_0365.jpeg"><figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes drops ‘growing pains’ truth bomb on Lakers’ defense</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-11-30T19:59:19-08:00">November 30th, 7:59pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-11-30T19:59:19-08:00">November 30th, 7:59pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the best offensive teams in the NBA this season <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-deandre-ayton-take-la-start">amid their 14-4 start</a>. But when it comes to the Lakers’ defense, that’s been a slightly different story. The teams has a few good individual defensive players, but most on the team believe the defense can improve. Lakers reserve center Jaxson Hayes is one player in particular who has made an impact on defense this season.</p><p>Following the Lakers’ win against the LA Clippers last Tuesday, Jaxson Hayes spoke about where the team’s defense stands in the early goings of the regular season.</p><p>“I feel like there’s always room for improvement. Right now everyone is just flying around making plays and just trying to cover for each other. And it’s like we have our nights of good defense and we have our nights where we have lapses,” Hayes said. “But I feel like it’s all part of the growing pains of the season. I feel like we’re just trying to get better and get more connected.”</p><p>With the quarter mark of the regular season approaching, the Lakers are sixth in the NBA in offensive rating at 119.4, as per Basketball Reference. But they are just 16th in the league in defensive rating at 115.5.</p><p>The stats also back up Hayes’ place as one of the better defenders on the team as he is in the top half of the roster <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/lakers-players-defensive-rating-this-season" rel="noopener">in defensive rating</a> at 115.6 in terms of the players in the regular rotation, as per StatMuse.</p><p>However, Lakers head coach JJ Redick cautioned against using defensive metrics such as rating when evaluating the team’s defense.</p><p>“I think our defense is better than whatever our defensive rating is,” Redick said prior to the Lakers’ win against the Mavericks on Friday. “There’s some positive things that we’ve done this year. . .when you have a couple of outliers of games, it’s not always going to be reflected through your overall defensive rating. But that typically evens out over a longer season. I know that we’re trending in the right way defensively.”</p><p>For Hayes in particular, his role has remained the same whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-la-bench-energy-change-game">Hayes’ job is bring energy and intensity</a> especially on the defensive end. Through the first 18 games of the season, 2.8 of Hayes’ rebounding average of 3.9 is on the defensive end.</p><p>Hayes is in his third season with the Lakers after re-signing in the offseason on a one-year contract.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes drops ‘growing pains’ truth bomb on Lakers’ defense

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-jaxson-hayes-reason-defend-luka-doncic-kris-dunn');   ga('set', 'title', 'JJ Redick, Jaxson Hayes explain reason behind defending Luka Doncic against Kris Dunn');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Luka-Doncic-heated-moment-led-to-Kris-Dunn-ejection.jpg"><figcaption>Nov 25, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) is defended by Los Angeles Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>JJ Redick, Jaxson Hayes explain reason behind defending Luka Doncic against Kris Dunn</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-11-26T00:13:52-08:00">November 26th, 12:13am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-11-26T00:13:52-08:00">November 26th, 12:13am</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – During the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 135-118 NBA Cup win against the LA Clippers, things got a little heated between Luka Doncic and Kris Dunn. Amid the initial confrontation, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-reacts-jaxson-hayes-back-kris-dunn">Jaxson Hayes came to the defense of Doncic</a>, earning the Lakers’ big man a technical foul. Following the game, Lakers head coach JJ Redick explained the togetherness the team has that makes each player want to stand up for their teammates.</p><p>“We highlight that stuff to our guys all the time, whether it’s celebrating the guy making a shot; we had a great clip from Milwaukee, Nick Smith makes a three and Maxi [Kleber] is celebrating on the court,” Redick said. “Our bench celebrations, a guy falls down. . .multiple guys running over to pick guys up. We’re not saying you have to do that, those are not requirements. But typically, guys show their cards, show their hands whether they like each other or not. Tonight as another example of that.”</p><p>The incident began when Luka Doncic was knocked to the floor jockeying for a rebound with Kris Dunn. Doncic came over and let Dunn know about it, and Dunn responded by slamming the ball in Doncic’s chest. That’s when Jaxson Hayes rushed over and gave Dunn a shove.</p><p>In the <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1993569514882244835" rel="noopener">aftermath of the review</a>, Hayes was given a single technical foul due to his shove. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-heated-moment-kris-dunn-ejection">Dunn was given two technical fouls</a>, the first stemming from him slamming the ball on Doncic, and the second coming when he shoved Hayes back. He was promptly ejected.</p><p>For Hayes, it was simply a case of letting his teammate know that he had his back.</p><p>“I just didn’t like the way he shoved Luka,” Hayes said. “I feel a lot of camaraderie with this team. I feel like we’re all very together and we’re all really close. We all want to protect each other.”</p><p>With the win, the Lakers clinched the top spot in the West Group B of the NBA Cup, and a spot in the quarterfinals which begin Dec. 9. The Lakers still have one more NBA Cup game remaining in group play on Friday at home against the Dallas Mavericks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

JJ Redick, Jaxson Hayes explain reason behind defending Luka Doncic against Kris Dunn

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-reacts-jaxson-hayes-back-kris-dunn');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Luka Doncic reacts to Jaxson Hayes having his back against Kris Dunn');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Luka-Doncic-reacts-to-Jaxson-Hayes-having-his-back-against-Kris-Dunn.jpg"><figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Luka Doncic reacts to Jaxson Hayes having his back against Kris Dunn</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-11-25T23:22:00-08:00">November 25th, 11:22pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-11-26T05:57:20-08:00">November 26th, 5:57am</time><address><a>Paolo Mariano</a>Paolo Mariano is a freelance writer, editor, and producer based in Manila, Philippines. He is a journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas and the father of a young girl whose personality swings from Simone Biles to Dillon Brooks. A beacon of objectivity, he believes Penny Hardaway is the true NBA GOAT.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Things got chippy between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter in the NBA Cup on Tuesday after Kris Dunn took a swing at Luka Doncic.</p><p>Fans at Crypto.com Arena erupted after Dunn’s act with 3:33 left in the closing frame. Doncic didn’t react to what happened, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-heated-moment-kris-dunn-ejection">Jaxson Hayes pushed Dunn</a>, who then retaliated with a shove. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed and the Lakers ran away with the win, 135-118.</p><p>After the game, Doncic was asked about Hayes <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersEmpire/status/1993572964923851172" rel="noopener">defending him during the altercation</a>. The five-time All-Star touted the Lakers’ camaraderie.</p><p>“Everybody got each other’s back, you know, so I appreciate him. I’ll pay his fine, for sure, but that shows what kind of team we are,” said the do-it-all guard in the video posted by Lakers Empire on X.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Luka on Jaxson Hayes having his back <a href="https://t.co/xDGR4PKuWY">pic.twitter.com/xDGR4PKuWY</a></p><p>— Lakers Empire (@LakersEmpire) <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersEmpire/status/1993572964923851172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-30-points-1st-half-clippers-la-fans-buzzing">Doncic had another masterful performance</a> with a game-high 43 points, including 32 in the first half. He added nine rebounds, 13 assists, one steal, and one block.</p><p>Hayes contributed eight points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. He played heavy minutes, as the Purple and Gold were without Deandre Ayton due to a knee contusion.</p><p>The Lakers claimed their fifth straight win and improved to 13-4. They are at the top of West Group B in the NBA Cup at 3-0.</p><p>Fans have noticed the improvement in the chemistry of the Lakers in Doncic’s first full season with the squad. Coach JJ Redick has repeatedly stressed the importance of supporting each other, and it was definitely embodied by Hayes against the Clippers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Luka Doncic reacts to Jaxson Hayes having his back against Kris Dunn

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-forgotten-skill-bring-to-la');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes’ forgotten skill he hopes to bring to Lakers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_0293.jpeg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes’ forgotten skill he hopes to bring to Lakers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-11-06T20:58:58-08:00">November 6th, 8:58pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-11-06T20:58:58-08:00">November 6th, 8:58pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – During the Los Angeles Lakers’ 130-120 win against the Miami Heat last Sunday, Jaxson Hayes hit his first three-point shot of the season, off his only attempt thus far. Hayes was spotting up at the top of the arc when he caught a pass from Austin Reaves, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-la-bench-energy-change-game" rel="noopener">stepped into his shot</a> and calmly knocked it down.</p><p>Since joining the Lakers two seasons ago, Jaxson Hayes hasn’t been known as a three-point shooter. Since 2023, he’s taken only 12 attempts total, and prior to this season he was 0-of-11. But that hasn’t always been the case. Following the win against the Heat, Hayes was quick to point out that he used to shoot more three-pointers earlier in his NBA career, and that he would like to take more three-pointers with the Lakers.</p><p>“I’m really comfortable taking that shot. Back in New Orleans I played the four and we made the playoffs and I was shooting like two a game,” Hayes said. “That was a shot in rhythm. I work on that a lot so I just shot it.”</p><p>During the 2021-22 season with the New Orleans Pelicans, and Hayes’ third in the league, he took 57 three-point shots and converted on 20 of them, finishing at a 35.1 percent clip. That was the year the Pelicans made the playoffs with Hayes starting in all six postseason games.</p><p>The year before that, Hayes shot his best career percentage from the three-point line at 42.9 percent. He took only 14 three-point attempts that year and knocked down six of them. In 2022-23 Hayes would take 29 long-range attempts, converting on three of them.</p><p>But since Hayes has joined the Lakers, he’s been used primarily as a lob threat, especially with the arrival of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-jaxson-hayes-growth">Luka Doncic whom he’s formed a solid pick and roll connection with</a>. But if the Heat game was any indication. Hayes is ready to knock down three-pointers as need be.</p><p>The Lakers have battled through injuries this season, and Hayes himself was sidelined briefly due to a knee injury. But he’s since returned to the lineup and has provided <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-la-bench-energy-change-game">has provided his usual energy off the bench</a>.</p><p>Hayes has appeared in six games so far, including one start, at a little over 18 minutes per game. He’s averaged 6.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 76.2 percent shooting from the field. Hayes was an unrestricted free agent this past offseason, but chose to re-sign with the Lakers even after a disappointing ending amid the team’s elimination in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes’ forgotten skill he hopes to bring to Lakers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-negative-experience-that-turned-him-into-a-dodgers-fan');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers center Jaxson Hayes’ negative experience that turned him into a Dodgers fan');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Jaxson-Hayes-fired-up.jpg"><figcaption>© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers center Jaxson Hayes’ negative experience that turned him into a Dodgers fan</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-11-04T01:51:23-08:00">November 4th, 1:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-11-04T01:51:23-08:00">November 4th, 1:51am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Dodgers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>A good subset of Los Angeles Lakers fans are also fans of the recently-crowned back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-la-bench-energy-change-game">Jaxson Hayes is certainly one of them</a>. He was rocking a Dodgers jersey after he played a huge role in the Lakers’ 130-120 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday night, as he was clearly beaming with pride with the city of LA in celebration.</p><p>However, Hayes wasn’t initially a Dodgers fan. He was born in Oklahoma and his family moved to Loveland, Ohio when he was just three years old. Due to proximity, there was always going to be one MLB team for Hayes to root for. Loveland was just around 20 miles away from the Cincinnati Reds’ home, Great American Ballpark, and Hayes was definitely rooting for the Reds during his younger days.</p><p>But now, Hayes is a true Dodgers fan, although one would think that he would have at least felt a bit conflicted when the Reds were destroyed in the 2025 NL Wild Card Round. The Lakers center shared the story of why he’s turned sour towards the Reds, as he was called to throw the first pitch on multiple occasions only for the opportunities to be taken away from him.</p><p>“I used to be a Reds fan. But then they cancelled on me throwing out the first pitch a few times so I’m now a Dodgers fan,” Hayes said in his postgame presser two days ago, via Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation.</p><p>As aggrieved as Hayes might feel to miss out on opportunities to throw a first pitch for the team he grew up rooting for in MLB, he has to be loving life as a Dodgers fan anyway.</p><h2><b>Fans bring up Lakers center Jaxson Hayes’ checkered past</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0245.jpeg"><figcaption>William Liang-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Hayes may be sour that he hasn’t been given an opportunity to throw a first pitch for the Reds. But the Reds simply might be wary of his off-court history. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-nba-jaxson-hayes-domestic-violence-investigation-video-leak">Lakers center was charged with 12 misdemeanors</a> back in 2021 after getting into a domestic dispute with his then-girlfriend. He ultimately received three years of probation and had to attend anti-domestic violence classes.</p><p>Fans on social media then sided with the Reds’ decision to not allow Hayes to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Great American Ballpark.</p><p>“Beats women, checks out,” X user @cmielionaire <a href="https://x.com/cmielionaire/status/1985497133278007336" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.</p><p>“good on the reds for cancelling on this wife beating pos,” @jordandwolfe10 <a href="https://x.com/jordandwolfe10/status/1985476715309650278" rel="noopener">added</a>.</p><p>“They prolly cancelled him throwing the first pitch out after he beat the living s**t out of his girlfriend,” @JDAlexander3 <a href="https://x.com/JDAlexander3/status/1985432990634156418" rel="noopener">furthered</a>.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers center Jaxson Hayes’ negative experience that turned him into a Dodgers fan

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-la-bench-energy-change-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Jaxson Hayes and the Lakers bench energy change the game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0273.jpeg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Jaxson Hayes and the Lakers bench energy change the game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-31T18:06:32-07:00">October 31st, 6:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-31T18:06:32-07:00">October 31st, 6:06pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – Back during the preseason, the Los Angeles Lakers’ bench unit, mostly composed of Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt and Marcus Smart all played key roles during the team’s final preseason game, a win against the Golden State Warriors. Since the regular season has begun, that trio hasn’t had much time on the court for the Lakers due to injuries.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-marcus-smart-jaxson-hayes-upgraded-la-injury-report">Jaxson Hayes suffered a knee injury</a> and was out of the Lakers’ lineup for three games. He recently made his return during the team’s win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Smart suffered a quad injury last Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, and missed two straight games. He is set to make his return to the lineup on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Vanderbilt was moved into the starting lineup due to the Lakers’ injury woes to begin the season.</p><p>With a healthy lineup, the Lakers bench unit is tasked with changing the game <a href="https://x.com/LADEig/status/1983718086223261864" rel="noopener">due to the energy</a> they bring, as per Hayes.</p><p>“It’s just a lot of energy. I feel like that’s the best way to describe it is energy. That’s our job is to bring energy to the team, bring energy to the game,” Hayes said after a Lakers practice back on Oct. 19. “All of us, our job is to come in and change the pace of the game and just get everyone right and get everyone going, stuff like that. I feel like that’s just what we’re meant to do.”</p><p>With all three players expected to be on the court against Memphis for the Lakers’ first NBA Cup game of the schedule, the bench unit can get back to bringing that energy required.</p><h2><b>Luka Doncic expected back vs. Grizzlies</b></h2><p>While the Lakers’ bench will get healthier against the Grizzlies, the starting lineup will be more intact as well as <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-playing-grizzlies-latest-injury-report">Luka Doncic is also expected to return</a> to the court after missing the last two games due to a finger injury and a knee injury.</p><p>When Doncic’s injuries were first disclosed last weekend, the initial recovery timeline was at least one week. But it appears as if his return will be slightly quicker. The Lakers conclude a two-game road trip on Friday and will return home against the Miami Heat on Sunday, Nov. 2.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Jaxson Hayes and the Lakers bench energy change the game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-marcus-smart-jaxson-hayes-upgraded-la-injury-report');   ga('set', 'title', 'Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0257.jpeg"></figure><h1>Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-28T19:11:12-07:00">October 28th, 7:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-28T19:11:12-07:00">October 28th, 7:11pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a tough, 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, a game in which <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-states-the-obvious-amid-lebron-james-luka-doncic-absences">they were missing five key rotation players due to injury</a>. The Lakers are set to embark on a brief, two-game road trip this week, and following the loss to the Blazers, head coach JJ Redick was hopeful that reinforcements would be on the way. Sure enough, both Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes were upgraded on the team injury report.</p><p>Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes are <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1983331894461902963" rel="noopener">officially listed as questionable</a> on the Lakers’ injury report for the first game of their road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves. A final status update for both players likely won’t come until right before the game. Smart suffered a quad injury during the Lakers’ win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, while Hayes sustained a knee injury sometime after the team’s season opener.</p><p>In the three games Smart has played in his Lakers debut, he’s averaged 7.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 43.8 percent from the field. Hayes has only appeared in one game so far during which he finished with four points, six rebounds and one assist while shooting 66.7 percent from the field</p><p>Getting Smart back gives the Lakers an additional ball-handler to help relieve Austin Reaves of some of the playmaking duties, while Hayes gives the team a key backup behind Deandre Ayton.</p><p>Against the Blazers, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-austin-reaves-admit-tough-situation-stars-out">Lakers just didn’t have enough depth to keep up</a>. But despite the short-handed loss, Redick was pleased by some of what he saw.</p><p>“I took a lot away. Again, our half court defense was excellent, first shot defense was excellent,” Redick said. “For the most part. . .just a highly, competitive spirit and connected group. You can build on that.”</p><p>The Lakers begin their mini-road trip with a matchup against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, before concluding the trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Marcus Smart, Jaxson Hayes upgraded on latest Lakers injury report

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-injury-jaxson-hayes-timberwolves-knee-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes ruled out vs. Timberwolves with knee injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_0245.jpeg"><figcaption>William Liang-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes ruled out vs. Timberwolves with knee injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-24T17:56:07-07:00">October 24th, 5:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-24T17:56:07-07:00">October 24th, 5:56pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers will face off against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday in a rematch of last season’s opening round playoff series. During that series, Lakers head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-brutally-honest-trade-off-jaxson-hayes-benching">JJ Redick ultimately benched starting center Jaxson Hayes</a>, and the team <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1981880259021861170" rel="noopener">will be without</a> Hayes for the rematch as he was ruled out due to a knee injury.</p><p>“Christian [Koloko] is active,” Redick said during his pregame media availability. “We’ll figure it out based on who is on the floor.”</p><p>Jaxson Hayes was officially listed as dealing with knee soreness on the team’s injury report, and his absence leaves a hole in the Lakers’ frontcourt rotation. While Hayes filled in admirably last season as the starting center following Anthony Davis’ departure, he is best suited to a reserve role.</p><p>With Hayes sidelined, that role will go to Christian Koloko who is back with the Lakers on another two-way contract.</p><p>Despite the disappointing end to last season for Hayes, he opted to re-sign with the Lakers in free agency. During the Lakers’ opening night loss to the Golden State Warriors, he finished with four points, six rebounds and one assist in 14 minutes of play.</p><p>Hayes played a total of 35 games last season as the starting center. During that stretch, he averaged 7.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists with splits of 72.9 percent shooting from the field and 55.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line in a little over 22 minutes per game.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-injury-update-kings-game">Hayes suffered a wrist injury during the Lakers’ final preseason game</a> after he caught a lob from Luka Doncic, but he was ultimately available for the season opener against the Warriors.</p><p>The No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Hayes is in his seventh year in the NBA. He originally joined the Lakers as a free agent ahead of the 2023-24 season. Prior to that, he played four seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans where he was teammates with Redick.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes ruled out vs. Timberwolves with knee injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/jaxson-hayes-reveals-injury-status-for-lakers-season-opener-vs-warriors');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes reveals injury status for Lakers’ season opener vs. Warriors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Los-Angeles-Lakers-guard-Luka-Doncic-2.jpg"><figcaption>Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes reveals injury status for Lakers’ season opener vs. Warriors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-19T23:44:31-07:00">October 19th, 11:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-19T23:44:31-07:00">October 19th, 11:44pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – During the Los Angeles Lakers’ 117-116 loss to the Sacramento Kings during their final preseason game, reserve big man <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-exits-preseason-finale-with-wrist-contusion">Jaxson Hayes exited early after he suffered a wrist injury</a>. After the game, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-injury-update-kings-game">Lakers coach JJ Redick revealed</a> that X-rays came back negative but that he wouldn’t have a definitive update until practice over the weekend.</p><p>Following Lakers’ practice on Sunday, Jaxson Hayes beat Redick to the punch in revealing his injury status for the team’s season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.</p><p>“I’m good, it was a light sprain in the wrist, but I’ll be good for Tuesday,” Hayes said. “I just fell and I tried to catch myself and messed up this little sprain. Being a dummy, I shouldn’t have tried to catch myself, I should’ve just fallen. It’s natural to do but it’s not a good thing to do. You’re most likely going to hurt your wrist nine times out of ten if you try to catch yourself falling.”</p><p>Hayes initially suffered the injury after <a href="https://x.com/NBA/status/1979384903671136554" rel="noopener">he caught a lob pass</a> from Luka Doncic and was fouled on the play resulting in an and-one. He missed the free-throw badly due to the injury, and was ruled out following halftime. Last season, Hayes developed strong chemistry with Doncic in the pick and roll as a rolling lob threat.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="fi">Luka Dončić lob.<br>Jaxson Hayes slam.</p><p>A THUNDEROUS alley-oop off the pick-and-roll ‼️ <a href="https://t.co/me2BX3Qmgm">pic.twitter.com/me2BX3Qmgm</a></p><p>— NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1979384903671136554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Hayes filled in well as the Lakers’ starting center following the Anthony Davis trade, but he was ultimately benched in the playoffs as Redick opted to go with a smaller lineup during the team’s opening round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>The way things ended last season, it was a little surprising that Hayes returned to the Lakers, but the seven-year veteran opted to re-sign with the organization on a one-year contract. Hayes cited conversations with Redick as being a deciding factor in his decision to come back.</p><p>“Me and JJ had a bunch of talks, we talked it through, we got through that obviously, obviously I’m gonna support him no matter what. It’s really just more of a chip on my shoulder than anything,” Hayes said. “He just told me he was sorry, and that’s what he wanted to do. That’s the lineup they all talked about, the coaches talked about. I respected that.”</p><p>During Hayes’ time as a starter last season, he appeared in 35 games and averaged 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists with splits of 72.9 percent shooting from the field and 55.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes reveals injury status for Lakers’ season opener vs. Warriors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-exits-preseason-finale-with-wrist-contusion');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes exits preseason finale with wrist contusion');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Lakers-center-Jaxson-Hayes-during-their-preseason-game.jpg"><figcaption>William Liang-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes exits preseason finale with wrist contusion</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-18T07:14:59-07:00">October 18th, 7:14am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-18T07:53:39-07:00">October 18th, 7:53am</time><address><a>Gerard Angelo Samillano</a>Gerard Angelo Samillano is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, with his focus primarily on the NBA, NFL, MLB and NCAA Football. When he's not writing for CP, Gerard can often be seen playing VALORANT or playing pick-up basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In the final game of the Los Angeles Lakers’ preseason, there was a slight moment of panic for the team. Backup center Jaxson Hayes came up hurt after a dunk attempt, going to the bench after. Afterwards, it was r<a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1979395685775466714" rel="noopener">evealed that the center had a wrist contusion</a> and was ruled out for the rest of the game.</p><p>“Lakers say Jaxson Hayes has a right wrist contusion and is out for the remainder of tonight’s preseason game,” Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported last night.</p><p>Dave McMenamin <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1979415903520592096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1979415903520592096%7Ctwgr%5E1b218b0e4f49b3b430470d2bf16b5c06d9c33ba6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flebronwire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnba%2F2025%2F10%2F17%2Flakers-coach-jj-redick-gives-injury-update-on-jaxson-hayes%2F86765081007%2F" rel="noopener">later reported </a>that the X-Rays on Hayes’ wrist came up negative. The Lakers will have a better update on the center’s status for their regular-season debut in the next few days as Hayes undergoes more tests to determine his injury.</p><p>The Lakers’ center position has been a huge topic since last season. After trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, that position has been a constant weak point for the team. Hayes struggled as a starter at times for Los Angeles, eventually <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-playoff-benching-timberwolves">leading to him getting benched in their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.</a></p><p>Los Angeles tried to address this issue during the offseason. They acquired former first overall pick DeAndre Ayton to presumably be the starter for the team. Hayes was relegated to the backup role, a role where does seem more comfortable in. Should Hayes end up missing time to start the year, former Maverick Maxi Kleber will be the primary backup to Ayton.</p><p>Unfortunately, Hayes’ potential absence won’t be the biggest injury for the Lakers coming into the season.<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-steve-nash-compares-back-injury-lebron-james-sciatica"> LeBron James is projected to be out until mid-November</a> as he works through some back issues. With the NBA legend out for some time, it’s up to Luka Doncic and the rest of the Lakers staff to have a good start and give James enough time to recuperate.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes exits preseason finale with wrist contusion

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-injury-update-kings-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes gets injury update after leaving Kings game early');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Jaxson-Hayes.jpg"><figcaption>Bill Streicher-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes gets injury update after leaving Kings game early</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-10-18T00:02:21-07:00">October 18th, 12:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-10-18T00:02:21-07:00">October 18th, 12:02am</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their final preseason game, 117-116, against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, a game that served as a tune-up before their season opener against the Golden State Warriors next week. But there was slight concern following the game regarding backup center Jaxson Hayes who left the game early due to a wrist injury.</p><p>Following the Lakers’ final preseason game, head coach JJ Redick <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1979416435140309426" rel="noopener">provided an update</a> on Jaxson Hayes’ injury.</p><p>“Wrist contusion, X-ray’s negative,” Redick said. “It was the lob dunking one. That’s why he shot a missile off the backboard on the free-throw. I don’t have a timing update, hopefully we’ll have one for you. . .on Sunday.”</p><p>The injury occurred in the first quarter when Luka Doncic found Hayes at the rim with a lob pass, a connection that had success down the stretch of last season after the trade. Hayes was ruled out of the game after halftime. He finished his night with six points and four rebounds while shooting 3-of-4 from the field in eight minutes of play.</p><p>After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-return-la-1-year-contract">re-signing with the Lakers in the offseason, Hayes</a> figured to be the primary backup center, a role he played last season before Anthony Davis was traded. The Lakers signed Deandre Ayton in free agency, paving the way for Hayes to return to the second unit.</p><p>Hayes filled in admirable as the Lakers’ starting center post-Doncic trade in the second half of the season. But when the playoffs rolled around, he found his role diminished and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-playoff-benching-timberwolves">ultimately was benched as the Lakers were eliminated</a> in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>Last season, Hayes appeared in 56 games, including 35 starts, at a little over 19 minutes per game. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists with splits of 72.2 percent shooting from the field and 62.2 percent shooting from the three-point line. As a starter, Hayes averaged 7.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting 72.9 percent from the field.</p><p>If Hayes is sidelined for any period of time, that likely means Christian Koloko, who is on a two-way contract, will be called into immediate duty. Prior to the game against the Kings, Redick spoke about the importance of the two-way contract players and how they want to manage their availability better.</p><p>“They’re going to be important throughout the year, not just to start the season. We saw the value of our two-ways last year,” Redick said. “[They] helped us turn the season around and they provided a lot of positives. . .I think we have a better process for that this year. . .cleaning that up for the sake of the players is paramount this year.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes gets injury update after leaving Kings game early

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-forfeits-surprising-no-trade-detail-new-la-contract');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes forfeits surprising ‘no-trade’ detail in new Lakers contract');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jaxson-Hayes-of-the-Los-Angeles-Lakers.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes forfeits surprising ‘no-trade’ detail in new Lakers contract</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-07T12:30:25-07:00">July 7th, 12:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-07T12:30:25-07:00">July 7th, 12:30pm</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Veteran center <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-return-la-1-year-contract">Jaxson Hayes is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers</a> on a one-year contract. It’s a deal that has Hayes returning to L.A. for at least one more season, where he’ll likely serve as the backup behind Deandre Ayton. On Monday, more details were revealed regarding Hayes’ contract.</p><p>Reports indicate that the 25-year-old center <a href="https://x.com/DanWoikeSports/status/1942283568870482123" rel="noopener">waived his no-trade clause</a> to re-sign with the Lakers, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. That decision opens up the possibility of Los Angeles using Jaxson Hayes as a possible trade piece at some point during the season.</p><p>“Jaxson Hayes waived his implicit no-trade clause to re-sign with the Lakers, sources tell The Athletic.”</p><p>Hayes is set to play for the Lakers for his third season after re-signing with the club. The former Texas Longhorn has been the backup center for Los Angeles over recent years, but did have to step into a starting role last season for a little bit after the front office traded Anthony Davis away for Luka Doncic.</p><p>Jaxson Hayes ended the 2024-25 campaign averaging 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 72.2% from the field and 62.2% from the free-throw line. That’s the type of production the Lakers should expect from him next season, assuming he remains in Los Angeles throughout his contract.</p><p>The Lakers have gone out of their way this offseason to find depth behind the starting lineup, while also finding an improvement at center in Ayton. Los Angeles has also acquired Jake LaRavia, who is primed for a depth role at small forward.</p><p>With some subtle news, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-brian-windhorst-la-snubbed-lebron-james-multi-year-request">Lakers are rumored to be building for 2027</a>. However, the club still has LeBron James on the roster, who is in the final year of his deal. With the current roster, Los Angeles appears to be a playoff contender, but the organization’s title hopes may not come to fruition until after next season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes forfeits surprising ‘no-trade’ detail in new Lakers contract

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-return-la-1-year-contract');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes returns to Lakers on 1-year contract');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_0013.jpeg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes returns to Lakers on 1-year contract</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-07-03T16:29:37-07:00">July 3rd, 4:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-07-03T16:29:37-07:00">July 3rd, 4:29pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers came into the 2025 offseason looking to bolster their frontcourt rotation. A day after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-deandre-ayton-contract-free-agency-after-blazers-buyout">agreeing to terms with free agent big man Deandre Ayton</a>, it appears as if the Lakers have their backup center. The Lakers have <a href="https://3.basecamp.com/5767866/buckets/36793780/card_tables/cards/8824643709" rel="noopener">agreed to re-sign</a> veteran center Jaxson Hayes via a one-year contract in free agency, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.</p><p>When gouging the free agency market in terms of available centers, Jaxson Hayes as a backup was not a bad option for the Lakers. While complete terms of the deal were not immediately available, Hayes’ contract is probably for the minimum. Hayes emerged as the team’s starting center following the departure of Anthony Davis, but saw his role diminished during the Lakers’ opening round playoff elimination against the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>Hayes will be entering his third season with the Lakers. He originally signed a two-year contract in free agency during the 2023 offseason, and then exercised his player option to opt-in for last season.</p><p>Hayes appeared in 56 games, including 35 starts, at a little over 19 minutes per game. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists with splits of 72.2 percent shooting from the field and 62.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>But during the playoffs, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-playoff-benching-timberwolves">Hayes gradually saw his role diminished</a> to the point where he was benched by the second half of Game 4 against the Wolves. He did not see any minutes in the elimination Game 5 with JJ Redick opting to go with Maxi Kleber, who had just returned from injury, as the backup center.</p><p>In four games against the Wolves, Hayes averaged 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 37.5 percent from the field in a little over seven minutes per game.</p><p>Hayes was a former teammate of Redick’s back when the pair played for the New Orleans Pelicans. Hayes began his NBA career with the Pelicans, playing four seasons with the team before joining the Lakers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaxson Hayes returns to Lakers on 1-year contract

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-playoff-benching-timberwolves');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaxson Hayes breaks silence on playoff benching vs. Timberwolves');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/IMG_1488.jpeg"></figure><h1>Jaxson Hayes breaks silence on playoff benching vs. Timberwolves</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-05-01T00:30:44-07:00">May 1st, 12:30am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-05-01T08:38:26-07:00">May 1st, 8:38am</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-fans-lose-it-brutal-game-5-elimination-loss-timberwolves">Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated</a> from the opening round of the NBA Playoffs following their 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5. One of the biggest developments of the series was the reduced role for Lakers’ starting center Jaxson Hayes and <a href="https://x.com/Dave_Yapkowitz/status/1917754528956571771" rel="noopener">his ultimate benching</a> in Game 5.</p><p>Following the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Timberwolves, Jaxson Hayes spoke about his playoff benching and the team’s elimination, as well as what his conversations with head coach JJ Redick were like amid the decision.</p><p>“It just doesn’t feel real. I feel like we had a great team coming along. After the All-Star break I feel like we started really clicking a lot, it just doesn’t really feel real,” Hayes said. “They told me, they were up straight with me, and saying just to stay ready. That they were gonna try some other things out. That was the coach’s decision and you got to respect that always.”</p><p>The move to permanent small-ball began in throughout the series with Hayes’ minutes slowly decreasing with each game. During the Lakers’ Game 4 loss, he did not play the entire second half as Redick opted to go with Dorian Finney-Smith in the lineup.</p><p>Hayes’ played eight, nine and nine minutes respectively in Games 1-3, four minutes in Game 4, and none in Game 5. Maxi Kleber, who had not played for the Lakers since coming over in the Luka Doncic trade as he recovered from injury, surpassed Hayes in the rotation for Game 5.</p><p>During the regular season, Hayes was somewhat of a revelation for the Lakers especially after Anthony Davis was traded, decimating their already shaky frontcourt depth. Following the trade for Doncic, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-luka-doncic-jaxson-hayes-growth">Hayes developed strong chemistry with the Lakers’ new star</a> as a lob threat.</p><p>Prior to the playoffs, Hayes appeared in 56 games, including 35 starts, at a little over 19 minutes per game. He shook off an early season ankle injury and averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists with splits of 72.2 percent shooting from the field and 62.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>Hayes will enter unrestricted free agency this coming offseason after playing two years with the Lakers, and he hasn’t quite yet thought about what the future might bring.</p><p>“I really haven’t been thinking about that at all. Just been focused on this playoff series and stuff,” Hayes said. “I haven’t even had time to process that yet, so we’ll see.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.3	4.1	1.1	0.4	0.4

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
5.3	4.1	1.1	0.4	0.4

Jaxson Hayes news

Jaxson
Hayes news