Lakers Training Camp BATTLE Between Maxi Kleber & Jaxson Hayes! | Rotation Outlook + Minutes Fight!

Lakers Training Camp BATTLE Between Maxi Kleber & Jaxson Hayes! | Rotation Outlook + Minutes Fight!

[Music] All right, we’ve been talking plenty about the Lakers new additions and where they might fall within the rotation. But how about a returning member that’s kind of a new addition to their team. That player being Maxiba. After all, he did arrive with their team last season with Luca Donuch, but he was hurt and didn’t play a single regular season minute, only playing a grand total of five minutes with their team in their game five defeat in round one of the NBA playoffs. So, at this point, he’s pretty much a new member for their team. Really, a guy that they have to find out how to integrate within the rotation, where he will play within the rotation, and if he’ll even be a rotation member for their team, and then on top of that, if he does get playing time, who he’ll have to compete with. And well, if you ask me and if you take a look at their current rotation, I think his biggest competitor at this point is probably Jackson Hayes. A guy that he himself is probably looking at a decreased role within the rotation. Following the addition of DeAndre Eaton, Hayes will obviously no longer be their starting big man, so he’ll be coming off the bench and trying to fill their backup center role, which that’s something that Maxi Cle will also be trying to do. Yes, he can play a little bit at power forward, but between LeBron James, Jared Vanderbilt, Rui Hajimiran, and even Jake Rab a little bit, they’ll be spending plenty of time at power forward, which won’t leave Pleu with much playing time left to work with. So, between himself and Jackson Hayes, they’ll likely be competing for backup center minutes. And, you know, with the two of them being very different players on the court, Hayes being more of a traditional big man that’s a good long threat, a decent rim protector, and a good rim runner. Clea being more of a modern-day big that can be a power forward center hybrid. Sometimes can play at the four, sometimes can play at the five is more of a three-point shooting floor spacing big man that offers some switchability on defense. So, they’re kind of polar opposites, but nonetheless will be competing for playing time in some matchups. Now, on the flip side of that, I think they could play together at times on the court. Obviously, they can with DeAndre Aiden. All three of them can’t play together. But when Aiden’s off the court, those two might be able to share playing time. But then again, you have to factor in again LeBron playing a power forward, Rui Hachimura playing at power forward. So it might be difficult to pair those two on the court and another heavy rotation member as well. So again, likely will be a pretty good competition between them. And with that in mind here, we’re going to talk about what that competition might look like, what it’ll take for one of them to take the upper hand in the matchup, what JJ Reic likely is and will be looking for from them, and how they might be able to stand out throughout training camp. So, we’re going to talk about that and try to break it all down here. And well, beginning with the most important factor in my opinion, that’s simply being durability. Obviously, something we have to factor in with Maxiba. After all, he unfortunately only played 34 games last regular season, none of which came with the Lakers and again only five total minutes of postseason time with their team. So that’s obviously a big factor with him. Between last season playing only 34 games, only 43 during the 2023 24 NBA season, only 37 dating back in the 2022 23 NBA season. So it’s obviously a major concern with him. Can they even rely on him to be a rotation player for their team? Is it maybe the better bet to go with Hayes so they don’t have to deal with injury risk with Maxi Kibba? That’s something you might be able to point to and maybe factor into your argument if you’re pushing for more Hayes playing time. However, I think they will overlook that if he can offer them something on the court, which he definitely is able to do. Like I said, him and Hayes are two very different players and have two very different skill sets. Clea being the more modern-day big man that offers more three-point shooting ability. And at this current moment, they don’t have a big man that can offer that reliably. You know, I talked about Christian Klo maybe trying to add that to his game, but at this point, it’s not a reliable option for him, and he’s not a reliable three-point shooting threat, but Maxi Kibba is. Throughout his eight years in the NBA, KBA has been a 35.4% career three-point shooter. Not incredible, but pretty good for a par forward center hybrid. Taking over three of them per game in only 22 minutes per game. Fairly high volume shooting for a big. That translating to 5.1 attempts per 36 minutes. And the even better part of that is a bunch of those attempts came with Luca Donuch directly passing him the ball. That’s another big pro for Max Clea here. Something to point to with his past history and past chemistry on the court with Luca Donic. Those two playing the pick and roll game and pick and pop game together. Luca knowing where to get clea the ball on the court, knowing how to play together and how to play off each other. That’s something that definitely could help out Maxi KBA here. And well, not only Luca Donic, but definitely in LeBron James, too. Between both Luca and LeBron, they really do value floor spacing. Obviously, that helps them get to the rim easier, get their shot easier, and really expand the floor to their liking. Helps them to create plays on the court. And Maxi definitely can offer more than that compared to either one of Jackson Hayes or DeAndre. I mean pointing to the Lakers best lineup last season, it was a small bowl lineup including both LeBron James, Luca Donuch, then with Dorian Finey Smith, Austin Reeves, and Rui Hajimura sporting a plus 18.6 net rating, an offensive rating of 124.9, a defensive rating of 106.3, spending a total of 108 minutes together. And again, obviously pointing to the floor spacing ability, the versatility on both ends of the court. And while Maxi is obviously not Dorian Smith, he might be able to offer a little bit of that on the court. And while I don’t expect it to be with that many starters on the court, I think it’ll be a combination of one of Luconic or LeBron James when one of them goes to the bench or comes back off the bench likely with DeAndre off the court as well. Then with a combination of Austin Reeves, Rui Aimura, and probably Jared Vanderbilt to help out El Cleba on defense, I could see some combination of that within the rotation. Clea playing the five for them. Vanderbilt or LeBron playing the four or three interchangeably. Austin being in there to be more of a shooter and kind of a backup ball handling threat as well. And then simply one more defender or offall shooting threat with them. That to me would be a lineup combination that probably would work and a combination we’d likely will see throughout the regular season with neither DeAndre or Jack Sn on the court with Maxi Kibba. However, like I said, that’s all dependent on KBA staying healthy and getting back to the player that he was prior to getting hurt, which is definitely not a guarantee for him. And if he can’t do that, then this would be an opportunity for Hayes to get more playing time. You know, probably maintaining his 15 to 20 minutes per game, only slightly less than he got in their starting lineup. And if he could get that and Kibba doesn’t get back to the player that he was and therefore is not a big rotation player for them, that’s something that Hayes could take advantage of. And while I know that not many fans like Hayes or really weren’t happy with him last season, you know, I’m not sure exactly why is he played pretty well post deadline, the unfortunate part was that he didn’t play much and didn’t play that well on limited playing time during the postseason, which wasn’t entirely his fault in my opinion. but he definitely could be a very viable backup center option for their team, especially in certain matchups. I mean, we’re talking about a guy that when he was in the team starting lineup, the Lakers went 26 and9 throughout that time frame, one of the best in the entire NBA post straight deadline. And well, throughout the 35 games that he did start in, Hayes averaged roughly eight points per game, six rebounds per game, 1.2 assists per game, roughly one block per game, shooting a team high 72.9% for the field. very efficient, very effective despite being pretty much only a dump off guy and thaw threat around the rim. Was a reliable option for them, barely missing any time due to injury, was very effective both pre-trade deadline and post trade deadline with Luca Donuch. And he definitely was deserving of being brought back to their team and to be looked at to be a rotation player for their team next season. Really no debate about it in my opinion. And well, for Jackson Hayes, that’s kind of what he will be relying on to not only maintain that, but even improve upon what he did last season, especially post straight deadline, continuing to be very efficient, trying to and likely being their leader in field goal percentage again. You know, he definitely will have more competition with that with DeAndre, whether you’re talking about efficiency at the rim, being a lob threat, pick and roll partner with Luca Donic, definitely will have more competition, but he showed to be very efficient last season. And then for defense, trying to build off what he showed post straight deadline was actually a pretty good rim protector post straight deadline. Not only with the block shots per game, but the ability to provide helpside defense, some switchability on defense, even contesting without fouling, which unfortunately did co-wave during the postseason. But overall, I thought Haz was pretty good for them on defense and again, especially post straight deadline. And if you ask me, I think he actually has a pathway for more consistent playing time. Now, I think that KBA is more versatile option. And during some matchups, he might actually get more playing time than Hayes and that actually has the ability to grow even further if he can get back to what he once was and obviously stays healthy on the court. But as right now, I think Hayes has more consistent role within the rotation, is the direct backup to DeAndre rather than kind of being a third center option, maybe a second center option in some matchups, kind of being a third power forward option. Again, it’s not really clear what the role for Cleba will be. I think that’s kind of a wait and see approach with JJ Reic and kind of with how they feel he looks and the player that he now is rather than what he was. I think they’re going to get a feel for that before making a further decision of him in the rotation. I think they’re going to and want to get a better feel for that with Liba. Kind of look at him throughout training camp and see if he can actually get back to what he once was. If he can still even play at power forward and is mobile enough to do that or if he’s simply a small ball center at this point. That’s kind of what they have to feel for here and kind of what they have to watch and find out with Maxiba, which will ultimately dictate playing time and role within the rotation. But with all of that being said, I think there is some competition here between them. Likely the biggest battle for his backup center mids in my opinion. Maybe Christian Koko a little bit, but primarily between Jackson Hayes and Maxiba. And well, with that in mind here, what do you guys think? How do you feel about a potential training camp battle between Jackson Hayes and Maxiba? Mainly for backup center minutes, but even for a rotation role in general. Let me know your thoughts about it in the comments down below. But I think that’ll pretty much do it for this one. And if you enjoyed the video, then I’ll greatly appreciate it if you dropped a like, subscribe to the channel if you have not already, and hit that notification bell to never miss out when I upload a video. But as always, thank you for watching and have a great day or night. [Music]

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