Lakers middle Jaxson Hayes has re-sprained his proper ankle and is predicted to be out for the following two-to-three weeks, in keeping with Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link).
Hayes initially missed six video games earlier this month as a consequence of a proper ankle sprain. He re-aggravated the difficulty on Tuesday in his second recreation again and has been inactive for 2 extra contests since then, present process an MRI on Friday to evaluate the severity of the harm, per head coach J.J. Redick (Twitter link through Jovan Buha of The Athletic).
With Christian Wood nonetheless recovering from left knee surgical procedure, Christian Koloko being built-in slowly following his year-long absence as a consequence of a blood-clot subject and Anthony Davis preferring to not play all of his minutes at middle, Hayes has been an everyday a part of Los Angeles’ rotation when wholesome. The large man has averaged 6.4 factors and 4.5 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per recreation throughout 11 outings.
With out Hayes out there for at the very least the following couple weeks, the Lakers will lean extra on Davis and Koloko for these minutes within the center and determine to sometimes deploy small-ball lineups that characteristic a ahead like LeBron James or Rui Hachimura because the de facto 5.
Hayes additionally remains under investigation by the NBA, because the league reopened its probe right into a 2021 home incident after new video surfaced. It’s unclear how lengthy that investigation will take, but when it ends in a suspension, Hayes must serve it as soon as he’s wholesome, not whereas he’s nonetheless injured.
