{"id":136363,"date":"2025-04-26T11:51:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=136363"},"modified":"2025-04-26T11:51:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:51:27","slug":"lakers-timberwolves-jj-redick-jaxson-hayes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/26\/lakers-timberwolves-jj-redick-jaxson-hayes\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers-Timberwolves: JJ Redick Still Has Faith in Struggling Starter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the Lakers\u2019 game 3 loss to the <\/span>Timberwolves<\/span><\/a>\u2014one marked by a slew of turnovers and a 13-1 run in crunch time\u2014head coach JJ Redick addressed a factor that\u2019s plagued the team ever since the trade deadline: rim protection. Although <\/span>Jaxson Hayes<\/span><\/a> has struggled mightily for the Lakers this postseason, it may not be time to give up on him just yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers-Timberwolves: JJ Redick Still Has Faith in Struggling Starter<\/b><\/h2>\n

Redick on Lakers\u2019 Defense, Belief in Hayes<\/b><\/h3>\n

LA\u2019s defense has fluctuated throughout the season, but particularly after the <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> trade. At one point, the Lakers found themselves among the <\/span>top three in defense<\/span><\/a> after moving on from their best rim protector, with Hayes looking like a serviceable five in the first unit. They finished the year 17th in defensive rating, and fans hoped the team\u2019s newfound identity would take hold against the Timberwolves. However, the playoffs have quickly exposed Hayes\u2019 (and the Lakers\u2019) flaws on the defensive end.<\/span><\/p>\n

Redick addressed the team\u2019s \u201cgod awful\u201d closeouts and acknowledged the lack of rim protection so far, especially on <\/span>Anthony Edwards<\/span><\/a> (29 points, eight assists) and <\/span>Jaden McDaniels<\/span><\/a> (team-high 30 points), who torched the Lakers Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is we don\u2019t have \u2018rim protection,\u2019\u201d <\/span>he told reporters<\/span><\/a>. \u201cYou give up blow-bys, we\u2019re gonna give up something. We\u2019re gonna give up a three or a shot from [Edwards] at the rim.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayes has yet to crack double digits this series, with Redick saying <\/span>his usage is dictated by the matchup<\/span><\/a> (e.g. <\/span>Rudy Gobert<\/span><\/a> vs. a combination of <\/span>Julius Randle<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Naz Reid<\/span><\/a>). In Hayes\u2019 third career postseason, he is averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per contest. He has also started in the playoffs for the first time since 2022 with New Orleans, when he put up 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game on 56% shooting from the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked whether he\u2019d consider benching the 24-year-old center, <\/span>Redick told The Athletic\u2019s Jovan Buha<\/span><\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019ll look at everything but we still believe in Jaxson.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Have Limited Options Besides Jaxson Hayes<\/b><\/h3>\n

Instead of using Hayes, Redick has opted to go with his \u201clasers\u201d lineup that typically boasts switchability and shooting. The group of James, Doncic, <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Rui Hachimura<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Dorian Finney-Smith<\/span><\/a> has <\/span>played 43 minutes and garnered a net rating of -13.4<\/span><\/a> (89.0 offensive, 102.4 defensive). The unit has also shot <\/span>26% from three<\/span><\/a>, making an average of 2.7 threes out of 10.3 attempts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The team\u2019s supposed \u201cdeath lineup\u201d<\/a>, which drew mixed results in the regular season, has all but killed them in the playoffs, particularly against a team with superior size and perimeter shooting. The group has been unable to counter Minnesota\u2019s hot scoring streaks and overall physicality. As such, deploying Hayes against Reid and Randle could yield some benefits going forward, so long as Hayes shows his own commitment on the defensive end, which can open up looks for him as a lob threat on offense.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 reliance on Hayes may also show that some of their past decisions have backfired. The team could have certainly used two-way bigs <\/span>Trey Jemison<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Christian Koloko<\/span><\/a> in this series. Instead, both were <\/span>left off of the postseason roster<\/span><\/a> in favor of veteran <\/span>Alex Len<\/span><\/a>, who has played in two of LA\u2019s playoff games at a mere two minutes per contest.<\/span><\/p>\n

LA must make several adjustments ahead of Sunday\u2019s game four, but Hayes\u2019 involvement is the biggest priority. The sixth-year center has played a key role in the Lakers\u2019 past success. Redick and the Lakers must tap into his potential if they want to stay alive in the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the Lakers\u2019 game 3 loss to the Timberwolves\u2014one marked by a slew of turnovers and a 13-1 run in crunch time\u2014head coach JJ Redick addressed a factor that\u2019s plagued the team ever since the trade deadline: rim protection. Although Jaxson Hayes has struggled mightily for the Lakers this postseason, it may not be time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":136367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,21,62,3],"tags":[2109,4556,2272,1962,2279,510,38,1133,1881,394,1749],"class_list":["post-136363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-austin-reaves","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jj-redick","tag-julius-randle","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-naz-reid","tag-rudy-gobert","tag-rui-hachimura"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136363"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136380,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136363\/revisions\/136380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}