While the Los Angeles Lakers were able to turn their season around with the trades they made at the deadline and were able to make the Western Conference Finals, there were still some moves to be made to further improve the roster.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was active in free agency this summer, making most of his moves during the first day. One of the new faces that was signed was center Jaxson Hayes, who is a young and athletic big with even a chance to start alongside star Anthony Davis.
The 23-year-old comes from a youthful situation with the New Orleans Pelicans to a team that is trying to win a championship, which will help Hayes get some necessary experience on what it is like to win and what it takes to be successful on a contending team. It’ll be intriguing what the 6’10” big will bring to the Lakers and what his role will be for this season.
The Ohio native is excited to team up with LeBron James, who he of course grew up rooting for. It appears Hayes still has a score to settle with his new teammates though, via Lakers:
“Being a kid from Ohio, I used to watch LeBron growing up. It’s definitely going to be pretty wild having LeBron as a teammate. Me and him have talked a lot throughout the years since I started playing, we had a bet a few years ago about my high school beating his high school in the state championship and then COVID shut that down. So, yeah, we never got to finish out that bet, but hopefully we can.
It seems that Hayes and James have kept in touch throughout the past couple of years, but now he’ll playing alongside the four-time champion for the first season. Hayes will also be playing for a historic franchise that featured the beloved Kobe Bryant for 20 seasons, so he shared his favorite moment of Bryant and James:
“My favorite Kobe [and] Bron memory was when I was in fourth grade, I went up to Cleveland to go watch a Lakers versus Cavs game and I want to say Bron and Kobe both had like over 30 [points] and it was the coolest day of my life as a kid.”
The Lakers have their eyes set on winning championship No. 18 this season, hopefully cashing in one more time before James decides to retire for good.
It remains to be seen what his exact role with be, but Hayes can be a vital spark plug for the team with his athleticism and shot-blocking ability on the defensive end while providing some highlight dunks on the other end.
Lakers hosting Suns in home opener on Oct. 26
This is the time of year where the NBA schedule begins to roll out with games being leaked. The Lakers have their rumored opening day matchup against the Nuggets in Denver and Christmas home game against their rival Boston Celtics. Now it is being reported that the Lakers’ home opener is against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 26.
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