With the Pelicans season officially over, we begin our look back at each individual player’s season and recap what we learned and where they stand with the Pelicans moving forward.
Overview
As most of the talk coming into the season for the Pelicans surrounded Zion Williamson or the new additions of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, Jaxson Hayes was largely able to slide under the radar despite being a top-ten pick. Without the spotlight on him, Hayes developed slowly and, by season’s end, was an intregal part of the Pelicans rotation in the must-win games inside the bubble.
Hayes’ playing time ebbed and flowed depending on the availability of his teammates like Derrick Favors and Williamson but he maintained a role on the team throughout. His play improved so much that it’ll likely lead to some interesting decisions for the Pelicans this off-season as they look to fill the center spot in their starting lineup.
What was learned?
Hayes was very good in two aspects offensively and stuck to essentially those two actions all season. His 117 possessions as a roll man were 37th most in the league, but that accounting for 29.5% of his possessions was the 12th most.
In those possessions, Hayes finished in the 83rd percentile, scoring 1.325 points per possession. It was rather straight forward when he came in: the Pelicans ran a pick and roll, Hayes rolled to the rim and the offense evolved from there.
The second-most common play type for Hayes was cuts, which accounted for 27.5% of his possessions. He finished in the 84th percentile at 1.477 points per possession. Roughly 28% of his remaining possessions came either on offensive putbacks or in transition where he ranked in the 30th and 98th percentile, respectively, in small sample sizes.
Ultimately, this season for Hayes showed that he was capable of playing within himself and playing at a high level in doing so. His acrobatic dunks and energy he brings often brought the team out of its shell on many nights.
For now, his biggest limitation is how limited he is offensively but moreso on the defensive end. As is the case with most young players, there’s a learning curve for big men defensively. Unlike Favors, he can’t anchor a defense quite yet. It’s a maturation process that’ll come with more time in the league.
But his instant impact this seasons means he’ll be ready sooner than not for a bigger role within the team.
What does the future hold?
For now, Hayes’ best role will remain as a backup big man that can bring energy off the bench. Because of his ability to run the pick and roll, he’ll be an incredibly valuable commodity to the Pelicans moving forward for bench units.
That does mean the Pelicans need a starting center option for the short-term. Whether that means they re-sign Favors or bring in another center in free agency, Hayes appears set to take over the role in the future.