Jaxson Hayes

If you look five topics down, there's already a thread about this very topic. It's about the scouting abilities of those on the board who said that Jaxson sucks.

Jax and Zion should shoot 10 thousand jumpers this summer.

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His improvement makes the Adams extension feel so much worse.

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would you rather have not done anything with Adams and he just be a one year rental? We kind of had to give him some kind of extension b/c of what we gave up to get him.

We can trade him to a team that will want what he brings, either in the offseason or at the trade deadline. I would bet there will be some large TPE's after this offseason that his $17M will fit into. I would think that the Nets and the Clippers would love to have him as they would love to have a guy that will do all the dirty work and never take any shot away from their stars. The best thing that could happen this year is the 76ers beat the Nets b/c of Embiid, and the Clippers lose to Denver b/c of Jokic, or even to the Lakers b/c of AD/Drummond, thus lamenting the fact that they have to get a big that can defend those guys effectively, and Adams has proven he can do that.

I think the biggest thing Jaxson needs to work on in the offseason isn't shooting, but defending high quality bigs lke Jokic and Embiid without fouling. No one is going to expect him to shut those guys down. Play smart defense, try to make things difficult on them, and don't foul. Use your hustle and energy running the floor and going after rebounds to combat what they will do to you offensively in the half court. We've seen him be a much better rim defender lately without fouling. For the stupid defense we run, we absolutely have to have an elite rim defender for it to work.

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would you rather have not done anything with Adams and he just be a one year rental?

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Yeah, kinda. Because in FA I don't think he gets anywhere close to 17 mill per.

I agree he’s on the verge of being starter ready but where does he play? Do you keep him at 5 or hope he can improve his jump shot and try him at 4? Obviously best case is he stays at C but I worry he would wear down playing more minutes against bigger centers in the league. It would be great if he could keep his athleticism and put 15-20 lbs of muscle on but that’s not always possible. If he continues to get better he’s going to force the Pels hand to try to get off Aadams’ contract because he will be impossible to keep off the floor. He brings it every single night now, not just the glimpses we saw earlier in the season.

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Do you keep him at 5 or hope he can improve his jump shot and try him at 4?

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This question shouldn't be about Jaxson, but the rest of the roster. Unless you're playing a big team I don't see the advantage in Jaxson at PF instead of C. He can play it, but Johnson/Naji/Hart/NAW would be better to have on the floor with Jax than Adams/Hernangomez in most scenarios.

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It would be great if he could keep his athleticism and put 15-20 lbs of muscle on but that’s not always possible.

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Look at Anthony Davis for this. There's no reason Jaxson can't follow a similar physical development curve.

I think the staff biggest goal this offseason is figuring how they are going to implement Hayes into the offense. They've only really used Hayes as a clean up option on the offensive end when the squad was healthy. What we are seeing now is that he's so much more capable as an offensive threat than they've used him for most of the season.


Unfortunately Hayes and Zion kind of shares the same space so they're obviously are going to favor Zion when they're in the game together. They should really start preparing Hayes to use mid range shot going into next season. He can be a nice bailout pass for Zion when he works the paint if he can hit those type of shots with some consistency.

What we are seeing is that Hayes gets his confidence when he is involved in the offense in which leads to more energy and confidence on the defensive end. I don't think it's a coincidence that his best
defensive games usually comes from games where he gets touches on the offensive end.

Either way, it's great to see his development. His defense is still very much a WIP. He's still relying a lot on his physical tools vs technique and basketball IQ. I expect this to develop over the course of next season as he receives consistent playing time.

As far as Adams is concerned, he's still going to be valuable for the team and for Hayes as well. You always need a lumbering brick wall to balance out a guy like Hayes since he's still not where he needs to be in terms of weight and strength. I think Adams for 1 more season would be fine as long as Hayes continues to take playing time away from Adams and Adams will only really receives more minutes when the matchups call for it.

All in all, Hayes and NAW needs to be a big part of next season's contributors.

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All in all, Hayes and NAW needs to be a big part of next season's contributors.

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I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both aren’t on the team next year.

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I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both aren’t on the team next year.

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They are good young pieces and obviously
Could be part of a trade.

To clarify, I’m not saying to get rid of them because they’re bad. I think they’ve both played well enough to be part of a trade for a real needle mover.

And if you have the choice to keep one or the other, I think you always keep the above average guard instead of the above average center. You have to be an absolutely elite center to impact the game more than a good guard.