Lakers Big Man Can Earn Himself a Big Payday with Rest of Season Performance

Jaxson Hayes can earn himself a lucrative new contract in the offseason.

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have been on fire over the last six weeks, and have reached new levels since the Luka Doncic trade. They moved all the way up to the second place in the Western Conference and will have a good shot at securing home-court advantage in the first round. As long as LeBron James and Doncic are healthy, the Lakers will have a chance to beat anybody in the postseason.

The most surprising aspect of the Lakers’ surge has been their defensive performance. In fact, they have the best defensive rating in the league since February 1. They are somehow better defensively since the Anthony Davis trade.

 

That is rather impressive for a team that lacks depth and quality in the frontcourt. One underrated reason for their success has been Jaxson Hayes. Thrust into a large role since AD’s departure, Hayes has been proving doubters wrong and earning himself a fat paycheck in the process.

Hayes’ contract expires at the end of the season. After playing on a minimum deal for the past two seasons, Hayes will almost certainly get a significant raise. However, how big of a raise it will be depends on his performance the rest of the way, especially the playoffs.

 

The 24-year-old center started the last 15 games for the Lakers. Since the All-Star break, he has increased his minutes to over 23 per game. In that stretch, he has averaged 8.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while hitting 76.3% of his field goal attempts. He obviously owes a lot of his efficiency to Doncic, who is the best at the league as a pick-and-roll partner and a lob passer.

As a result, the Lakers have been +3.6 points per 100 possessions better with Hayes on the floor than when he is off, per Cleaning the Glass. The team’s defensive rating when he is on the floor is an impressive 109.8.

If he can keep this up, Hayes will earn a ton of money in the next few months. However, whether the Lakers will be able to pay him, remains to be seen.