The Lakers moved on from one of Luka Doncic’s favorite alley-oop targets just as they brought in a new one.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles landed former Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade, giving Doncic the kind of 7-foot lob threat teams dream about. The same day, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported that the Lakers had officially renounced the free agent rights to Jaxson Hayes, ending his run with the franchise.
“The Los Angeles Lakers have officially renounced the free agent rights to LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Dion Waiters, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Maxi Kleber, Nick Smith Jr, Jared Dudley, Avery Bradley, Jaxson Hayes, Markieff Morris, and Wayne Ellington”
Hayes, who signed with the Utah Jazz two days after Scotto’s report, had his moments with Doncic in the pick-and-roll. Last March was the best stretch of his career, when he put up 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 79.7% from the field, finishing plenty of Doncic feeds at the rim.
But the production didn’t hold. Hayes faded down the stretch in 2024-25 and barely mattered in the Lakers’ first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Even with that drop-off, Hayes wasn’t a disaster as a backup center. He averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds while hitting 75.6% of his shots from the field. Still, his limited versatility made it tough to justify another season in Los Angeles.
Now 26, Hayes heads to a rebuilding Jazz team with a chance to keep developing in 2026-27 and beyond.
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Lakers Just Made A Strange Luka-Connected Move Mavericks Fans Will Notice
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For Lakers fans, it is mostly administrative. For anyone around the Luka Doni orbit, it is the kind of small transaction that gets noticed because of the names attached to it, especially with Dudley having moved on from the Lakers and into coaching after his retirement. The list also included a handful of other familiar veterans, a reminder that teams sometimes spend as much time untangling old rights as they do chasing the next move. [Read more 🡒]