New Orleans Pelicans center and former Longhorn Jaxson Hayes has been a rotational piece in his second year in the league, used primarily on defense to grab rebounds and block shots. However, every now and then he gets his chance to score and it goes in 71.7% of the time.
On the season, Hayes’s stat line is modest, although expected. He’s averaging 5.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, .6 assists, .3 steals and .7 blocks per game on his 71.7% shooting as well as 77.4% free throw shooting this year, while only playing 13.5 minutes per game.
If there was ever a time to make a name for himself, it was with him in the starting role, where he happened to throw down what could be a favorite for dunk of the year.
Early in the first quarter against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, Hayes revived an assist from James Johnson off a steal, leading to a fast break alley-oop.
James might be new to the team but he already knows to throw the ball anywhere near Jaxson and it's probably getting dunked pic.twitter.com/YXj7vmCm63
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 3, 2021
Hayes would finish the game with 12 points, 4 rebounds and a block on 44.4% shooting through 27 minutes.
Hayes is going to make a name for himself if he gets more minutes like he did on Friday, and certainly with dunks as monstrous as that one.