{"id":142326,"date":"2025-05-28T14:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=142326"},"modified":"2025-05-28T14:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:07:21","slug":"report-lakers-could-lose-starter-to-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/05\/28\/report-lakers-could-lose-starter-to-free-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Lakers Could Lose Starter to Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Lakers hope to retain multiple key pieces this summer, rumors suggest they could lose a piece of their starting frontcourt when free agency opens July 6.<\/span><\/p>\n

Report: Lakers Could Lose Starter to Free Agency<\/b><\/h2>\n

Jaxson Hayes Could be on the Move<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to a Wednesday article by <\/span>ClutchPoints\u2019 Anthony Irwin<\/span><\/a>, the Lakers\u2019 active pursuit for a starting center means they could lose the one they already have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>In terms of returning talent, sources say there is an outside chance of Jaxson Hayes returning, but he wasn’t thrilled about his role disappearing in the postseason and the money he lost as his minutes dwindled. From the Lakers perspective, they’re weighing Redick losing faith in him, how he might handle them bringing in his replacement or the inevitable demotion he’d be in line for this summer.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 56 games (35 starts) for the Lakers, <\/span>Jaxson Hayes<\/span><\/a> averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, one assist and 0.9 blocks per game on 72% shooting from the field. <\/span>Since becoming the team\u2019s starting big<\/span><\/a> next to Luka Doncic, he put up a modest 8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks while shooting 75.6% from the field. While <\/span>he turned a corner upon Doncic\u2019s arrival<\/span><\/a>, Hayes notoriously struggled in the Lakers\u2019 first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He started four of the team\u2019s five games but became an afterthought by the time they were on the brink of elimination.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Apr
Apr 11, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) celebrates with center Jaxson Hayes (11), and guard Austin Reaves (15) after scoring against the Houston Rockets during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hayes<\/span><\/a> played out the final season of a two-year deal, earning $2.4 million on a player option he accepted last June. While he’s provided several <\/span>highlights<\/span><\/a> in his time as a Laker, the end results and the team\u2019s trajectory prove it\u2019s best for both sides to part ways this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Pelinka and Redick are Looking For<\/b><\/h3>\n

In terms of replacements for the 25-year-old, sources told Irwin that Rob Pelinka has worked the phones this offseason, searching for a lob threat to complement <\/span>LeBron James<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Luka Doncic<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/span><\/a> while also eyeing a bruising floor-spacer at the request of head coach JJ Redick.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c…sources say Redick has expressed interest in a big body who can also space the floor for his five-out system and sets. Sources have also indicated that Redick is open to tailoring his system to his next roster’s strengths, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what that balance looks like.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of free agency, belief is whoever the Lakers sign will complement whatever type of center they trade for. So, if they trade for a lob threat, look for them to sign more of a floor-spacer or bruising center using either the taxpayer midlevel exception or veteran minimum salaries, and vice versa.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Lakers\u2019 list of targets mentioned ad nauseam remains unchanged (<\/span>Nic Claxton<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Daniel Gafford<\/span><\/a>, etc.), according to Irwin. Recent <\/span>reports<\/span><\/a> from <\/span>other outlets<\/span><\/a> suggest they could also make a run at <\/span>Onyeka Okongwu<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Jakob Poeltl<\/span><\/a> via trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

And as for in-house talent, Irwin noted that two-way centers <\/span>Christian Koloko<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Trey Jemison<\/span><\/a> were well-liked within the organization and could be in line for standard and two-way deals, respectively, either with LA or elsewhere. While it appears neither of them could fill a backup role for the Lakers right now, re-signing one or both of them would certainly boost the team\u2019s center depth as they search for ideal complements next to <\/span>James<\/span><\/a>, Doncic and <\/span>Reaves<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

While the Lakers hope to retain multiple key pieces this summer, rumors suggest they could lose a piece of their starting frontcourt when free agency opens July 6. Report: Lakers Could Lose Starter to Free Agency Jaxson Hayes Could be on the Move According to a Wednesday article by ClutchPoints\u2019 Anthony Irwin, the Lakers\u2019 active […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":142333,"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":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[4556,1453,968,1962,2279,38,1133,4581,2830,759],"class_list":["post-142326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-austin-reaves","tag-daniel-gafford","tag-jakob-poeltl","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nic-claxton","tag-onyeka-okongwu","tag-rob-pelinka"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142326","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=142326"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142340,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142326\/revisions\/142340"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}