Film Study: Jaxson Hayes’ potential fit on the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers signed center Jaxson Hayes to a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal in NBA free agency, with the second year as a player option (the same contract they gave Cam Reddish).

The University of Texas alum and former lottery pick spent his first four years playing for the New Orleans Pelicans with mixed results — showcasing a slew of physical attributes and flashes of overall game, but never putting it all together.

With those attributes and flashes in mind, how does he fit in with the Lakers and what could his potential impact be? Let's take a closer look at the film:

The signing of Hayes continues the Lakers and general manager Rob Pelinka’s theme of signing potential reclamation projects and relying on their vaunted player development staff to get the best out of them. The strategy has seen good results in recent years with the likes of Malik Monk and Lonnie Walker IV (and one could even argue Thomas Bryant, who increased his value enough to command multiple second round picks from the Denver Nuggets).

It’s yet another calculated low-risk, high-reward move with the possibility that Hayes becomes the starting center to play alongside Anthony Davis during the regular season and lessen his burden so he’s ready to go when it matters most.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, is a youth basketball coach at the U12 level and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. Combining his background in biomechanics, movement science, and learning science - he consults in a variety of sports including basketball on movement mechanics and skill acquisition. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC and analyzes the Lakers from a skills & medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.