The Los Angeles Lakers' already-depleted frontline just got a little thinner.
Backup center Jaxson Hayes suffered a left ankle sprain in practice Tuesday, the team announced. He sat out Wednesday night's 128-123 win against the Memphis Grizzlies and will be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks.
"Honestly, a freak play in practice, was against coaches," Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the Grizzlies game. "And he didn't even land on an ankle. ... It was just an awkward kind of fall, and an ankle rolled. There was no contact. I'm bummed for Jaxson."
Hayes arrived at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday in a walking boot. He told ESPN the pain in his ankle already had started to subside and was hopeful he could return on the shorter end of the estimated recovery timeline.
Hayes' injury followed Redick saying Tuesday that another one of L.A.'s backup big men, Christian Wood, suffered a setback while ramping up his recovery from offseason surgery on his left knee and will sit out at least another month.
Hayes was coming off one of his best games of the season, posting 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, 6 rebounds and 1 blocked shot while closing out L.A.'s win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday after Anthony Davis was poked in his left eye and exited.
The Lakers outscored the Raptors by 21 in the 21 minutes Hayes was on the court.
With Hayes and Wood out, The Lakers' roster features only one center other than Davis: two-way player Christian Koloko. The former second-round pick out of the University of Arizona sat out the 2023-24 season because of a blood clot issue.
Koloko saw 13 minutes of action against the Grizzlies, scoring four points.
He now has played in four games since being cleared to return by the NBA's "fitness to play" panel -- three for the Lakers and one for the South Bay Lakers, the organization's G League affiliate.
"We're going to rely on Christian Koloko to fill those minutes and depending on matchups, there may be opportunities to play small, but we're very confident and comfortable with Christian," Redick said Wednesday.
The Lakers have cleared Anthony Davis to play Wednesday but will be without key backups Hayes and Christian Wood.
Jaxson Hayes is averaging 6.3 points and a career-high 4.6 rebounds per game in 2024-25.
The Lakers' star is off to a dominant start as the season-long chase for MVP begins.
The Los Angeles Lakers approached the 2024-25 regular season with optimism about the future of the center position. Anthony Davis was aiming for the stars, Rob Pelinka was exploring trade options, and Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood provided JJ Redick with vastly different and intriguing options to incorporate into his rotation.
Unfortunately, The Lakers' depth at center has been ravaged by injuries—and the latest development could prove to be the most devastating yet.
Davis has been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and an eye injury that he's chosen to play through, per Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet. Wood has thus far missed every game of the 2024-25 season as he recovers from arthroscopic knee surgery.
Unfortunately, the depth at center has taken yet another hit, as the Lakers have revealed that Jaxson Hayes will miss at least one-to-two weeks with a sprained ankle.
Jaxson Hayes suffered a left ankle sprain in practice Tuesday and will miss the Grizzlies game tonight, per the Lakers. He’ll be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks, per the team.
With the depth at center depleted, the signs point to Christian Koloko receiving consistent playing time with the Lakers' main roster.
Hayes has appeared in each of the Lakers' first 10 games, starting one. He's averaged 6.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.9 offensive rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in just 17.5 minutes per game, which translates to 13.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 offensive rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes.
Beyond the numbers, Hayes has been an effective rim-runner who has given the Lakers a necessary splash of athleticism when they need an interior bucket.
Defensively, Hayes has taken steps toward realizing his potential as a quality defender. He's still struggling to protect the paint consistently, but has done well when switching against the pick-and-roll and contesting jumpers.
Unfortunately, the Lakers could be without Hayes for two weeks depending on the severity of the sprain—meaning the depth at center is now limited to Davis and Koloko.
Davis will be playing through plantar fasciitis and an eye injury, while Koloko has played just two NBA games since 2022-23. It's a compromising position for the Lakers to find themselves in, especially after parting with Summer League standout Colin Castleton ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The silver lining, however, is that Koloko will have an opportunity to learn on the fly as the Lakers feature him with the second unit.
The other option for the Lakers to consider is to go small-ball whenever Davis is off the court. D'Angelo Russell has led an improved second unit, and Los Angeles could potentially emphasize a team that pushes the pace during short stretches without Davis.
Regardless of what the Lakers choose to do, one can't help but feel as though the calls for a trade to improve the depth at center will grow louder in Hayes' absence.
