Jaxson Hayes breaks out despite Pelicans lagging start to regular season

The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t have a whole lot of positives to take away from their 123-134 home loss to Golden State, but Jaxson Hayes shined off the bench.

Starting off the season 0-4, there’s not a lot to like at the start of the 2019-2020 season for the New Orleans Pelicans. Emerging on a smallish list of positives is the performance of rookie center Jaxson Hayes, who is just beginning to pick up minutes.

Hayes is finally getting the call for the New Orleans Pelicans after checking in zero times in the first three games.

Last night, the team was down their starting center in Derrick Favors, leaving Jahlil Okafor to start and Hayes to give Okafor a breather, at least when the team didn’t check into a small ball set.

Playing 24 minutes against the team’s Monday night home loss to the Golden State Warriors, Hayes kept attacking the rim and keeping his feet active on defense, something that couldn’t be said for many of his teammates.

Hayes played with energy and effort that many of his fellow Pelicans lacked in the team’s 123-134 loss, perhaps buoyed by his first sniff of NBA action.

Scoring with ease against a Warriors team lacking a center for the night, Hayes went 9-of-11, scoring primarily around the rim. His 19 points were second only to Brandon Ingram, who scored 27 points on the night.

The Pelicans did struggle on the glass as a whole last night, as they were outrebounded 41-61 by the Warriors. Hayes only grabbed 3 rebounds, but was a contributor on the defensive end, recording a block and a steal.

With Jaxson Hayes scoring with such little effort, it raises a pair of questions: 1) why didn’t the Pelicans look his direction earlier? 2) Can Hayes sustain his play for the next 77 games?

There’s a lot to like about Hayes, who is still just 19-years-old and was considered to still be a pretty raw talent by most before the draft. However, the team needs to continue seeing games like tonight if he wants a chance to play once the team has a healthy roster.

If Alvin Gentry calls on Jaxson Hayes now, he’ll be able to start clearing out the lane when Zion returns to action.

Alvin Gentry is giving fans a lot of reasons to question what’s happening on the floor, including the team’s rotations lacking much success as currently slated. Perhaps adding a healthier portion of Hayes into that mix could help curb some scoring issues, as the rookie made tearing the defending Western Conference Champions’ defense look simple.

Right now, the Pelicans are having a hard time creating space and getting comfortable in their offensive sets. Glaringly obvious from the 5-0 preseason run to their 0-4 start is the lack of Zion Williamson in their offensive sets. However, they’ll need to space better with or without Zion on the court.

Jaxson Hayes can give this team much-needed spacing if he can be the rim anchor he was projected to be out of the University of Texas.

Standing an even 7′ tall with a 7’3.5″ wingspan, Hayes has incredible size for his explosiveness, helped in part by his lean, yet muscular 219 lbs frame.

He’s still got work to do to become a guy who can bounce bodies with the best in the NBA, but with Aaron Nelson and the newly-refurbished Pelicans training staff should be able to add more muscle to the rookie, making him more physically capable of winning inside.

Right now, the Pelicans have the second-worst defensive rating in the league, just ahead of the Golden State team who clobbered them last night. Hayes can help solidify that side of the floor.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Pelicans rank 12th in defending shots from close range to start the year, allowing 61% of shots to fall from that region. While that statistic is pretty good among a sea of bad, Hayes can give the team an even better edge on the interior.

In college, Hayes averaged 5.7 blocks per 100 possesions. In the preseason, Hayes proved himself a plenty capable shot blocker at the professional level, which should be exciting for Pelicans fans.

Drafted eighth overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, Jaxson Hayes was selected to be his team’s rim-running center, much like what the Houston Rockets have in Clint Capela. Much like the All-Star Capela was out of college, Hayes is a relatively raw prospect compared to many, but has one of the highest ceilings in from this year’s class of prospects.

Something has to give for this New Orleans Pelicans bunch, whether or not Jaxson Hayes can be a key in their correction. Eventually, this team will get Zion Williamson back, but they should try to position their offense better to account for the return of the phenom.