The Los Angeles Lakers made two low-risk, high-reward moves in NBA Free Agency.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been very busy through the first couple of days of NBA Free Agency, reportedly re-signing and acquiring multiple players. But two free agents, in particular, they’ve brought to LA, are extremely low-risk, and very high-reward. Those two players are Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes.
The Lakers are expected to sign both Reddish and Hayes to two-year deals.
Hayes and Reddish were both drafted top 10 of the 2019 NBA Draft and are also both 23 years old. As of yet, the two haven’t lived up to the hype, but there’s still clearly plenty of time.
Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes have had similar paths to the Los Angeles Lakers
Reddish has spent his first four years all around the NBA. Starting out in Atlanta, he’s also played for the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, and now Lakers. His career so far has been littered with injuries and inconsistencies, but he did have his best stretch in the NBA recently, after being traded to the Blazers in the middle of this season.
Jaxson played all of his first four years in the NBA with the New Orleans Pelicans and has had similar woes. He’s struggled to string together multiple good performances, whether it’s because of injuries, or off-the-court issues.
Both players are extremely alike. All the talent and physical tools, but something always gets in the way to prevent them from realizing their true potential. But in LA on seemingly cheap deals, they could both prove themselves under the brightest lights yet.
What can Cam Reddish bring to the Los Angeles Lakers?
Cam Reddish is someone who has shown flashes to do everything on the NBA court as a wing. At 6-foot-8, Reddish has the ideal size for a wing. Defensively he is quite capable on the perimeter, offensively is where the inconsistencies really hit.
Reddish has a very smooth game. He’s got the perfect jumper, a smooth handle, and can get to the rim. Unfortunately, he’s yet to put this combo together all at once. Throughout his career, Reddish has struggled with inefficiency shooting the ball from 3 and the field, only shooting over 41 percent from the field once in his career, and only over 35 percent from 3 once as well.
At the bare minimum, the Lakers will get someone who can come in and play good rotational minutes. They’re getting someone who can play solid defense, and occasionally give you a huge scoring punch. But if he really hits his stride, he can play elite defense, and be a reliable third or fourth option on this Lakers team.
Depending on what LA does the rest of this offseason, Reddish could be somewhat of a spot starter for the Lakers on the wing this season.
What can Jaxson Hayes bring to the Los Angeles Lakers?
Jaxson Hayes is a ridiculous athlete. At 6-foot-11, he runs the floor hard and catches anything remotely near the rim, and jams it. This athleticism translates to some insane blocks on defense as well. Other than that, we haven’t seen a whole lot from him.
Hayes can often get into foul trouble and isn’t the smartest guy on the court, but he can still give you great production and energy in 15-20 minutes of game time. Despite this, there’s still a lot that can be unlocked with Hayes. With his size and speed, there’s potential for him to be a real presence inside defensively. Although he can block everything, he’s never averaged a full block per game. And since he’s so quick, he should be able to guard perimeter players in stretches.
Behind Anthony Davis, Jaxson is really in the perfect spot to be a backup center. Since AD is so good and plays so much, all Hayes has to do is go out there for 15 minutes and give great effort. Considering all his physical tools, and what we’ve seen from him in the NBA, that’s probably exactly what he’ll do.
Reddish and Hayes were once highly touted, but they still have a lot to prove. LA was fortunate to pick them up for very little coin, and luckily for them, their payout could be much larger than what they initially invested.