The Los Angeles Lakers
radically remade their roster in a span of a couple of days when NBA free agency started earlier this summer. They lost LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes in free agency, while they traded for Walker Kessler and brought in Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle as free agents.Many are skeptical that the combination of Mamukelashvili and Looney will be adequate enough to back up Kessler at the center position. During the last three seasons, L.A. had Jaxson Hayes as its backup center, and while he's very limited, he is a lob threat who can also grab rebounds and block shots.
Per Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, one Western
Conference coach criticized the Lakers for letting Hayes leave and even criticized the team for signing Sexton.
“It did not make sense to me that they let Jaxson Hayes walk but they had to go get a guy like Collin Sexton, who is good, but you can find guys who can do what Collin Sexton does,” one Western Conference coach said. “Especially, you know that Luka Doncic and Hayes have a connection and all of that, it seemed like a clear mistake that they’re paying for now.”
In three years with Los Angeles, Hayes averaged 6.2 points on 73.5% shooting, 3.9 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 16.5 minutes a game. While Looney, who remains an excellent rebounder, may still be able to play about 10-15 minutes a game, the concern is that if Kessler suffers an injury, L.A. wouldn't have enough capable bodies to rotate at the 5 spot.
Sexton will fill multiple needs for the team and was signed to a relatively team-friendly two-year, $19 million contract. But plenty of people feel his signing was either unwise or simply unneeded, even though the Lakers clearly need his speed, ball-handling, facilitating, outside shooting and scoring.
Had they retained Hayes, it wouldn't have been easy to find a less expensive alternative to Sexton who would've had all the same skill sets. At the same time, it is unknown if Hayes even wanted to stay with the Lakers.
He ended up going to the Utah Jazz, Kessler's old team, on a two-year, $12 million deal.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: NBA coach criticizes Lakers for letting Jaxson Hayes leave
