Following the the trade for Luka Doncic which sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers were left with Jaxson Hayes as the only center on the roster. Hayes stepped up as best he could and had some excellent moments during the regular season, but was ultimately played off the floor during the playoffs.
But the Lakers still see Hayes as someone who can contribute to this team as an energy big off the bench and, as such, re-signed him on a one-year contract. While Deandre Ayton will undoubtedly be the team’s starter in the middle, Hayes will still make an impact as part of this rotation.
Hayes also gave up something in order to return to the Lakers as he waived his implicit no-trade clause to re-sign with the Lakers, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
The Lakers did not specifically give Hayes a no-trade clause, but under the rules of the CBA, if a player has been with a team for three or more seasons and re-signs on a one-year contract, they have the ability to reject any trade as being dealt would take away their bird rights.
According to this report though, Hayes is waiving that no-trade clause, which means he will be able to be dealt later in the year.
This also was the case for the Lakers with D’Angelo Russell when he re-signed on a two-year deal with the second year being a player option, also waiving his de facto no-trade clause. That ultimately helped the Lakers as he was dealt away in the trade to bring in Dorian Finney-Smith. Hayes’ contract is nowhere near the size that Russell’s was, but it is good that the team, if they want or need to throw him in a deal, will be able to do so.
The Lakers were able to offer Jaxson Hayes a 120% raise on his previous contract to return to the team an the big man took it. However, in doing so, the Lakers may have limited their future spending power.
Because of this signing, the Lakers currently no longer have full use of the exception as it is worth $5.1 million. If they waive Shake Milton, that would put them around $3.9 million under the first apron hard cap, which means they would have to find a way to clear $1.2 million in salary in order to give out the full $5.1 million.
