Lakers News: D'Angelo Russell Predicts LA Teammate Could Improve Salary As Free Agent
Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D'Angelo Russell, who has an $18.7 million player option of his own to think about this summer, believes that reserve LA center Jaxson Hayes could be in line for a big raise of his own in the offseason, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha.
“He’s gonna make a lot of money this summer playing on this stage,” Russell said.
The seven-footer has shown promise of late, after being pressed into service thanks in part to the absences of big men Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt. When All-Star center Anthony Davis went down in the first quarter of LA's 127-117 defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, Hayes stepped up. He scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor, grabbed 10 boards and swiped five steals, the latter a career-best.
He generally doesn't play much, averaging just 12.4 minutes on the season. In the four games where he's played at least 25 minutes per this year (yes, it's only been four games -- again, he's pretty raw), Hayes is averaging 14 points, 9.8 rebounds, two steals, and 0.8 assists a night.
Hayes inked a two-year, veteran's minimum contract with the Lakers last summer as an unrestricted free agent. He had spent all four of his previous pro seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, who drafted him with the No. 8 pick out of Texas in 2019 -- a draft selection acquired by the Lakers in their deal to acquire Davis, by the way.
The 24-year-old has a $2.5 million player option for the 2024-25 NBA season. He's fairly raw in terms of his court sense, and doesn't really have a jumper, but he's fairly athletic, and you can't teach size. Would he earn much more than a minimum on the open market? Perhaps not next year, but if he continues to develop this way with a big national team like the Lakers for another season, maybe he'll earn a big increase on his next deal in the summer of 2025.
