New NBA Rumors on Jaxson Hayes' Jazz Contract After Lakers' Walker Kessler Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers lost a member of their rotation to free agency on Wednesday.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Utah Jazz signed center Jaxson Hayes to a two-year, $12 million deal that includes a team option in the second year. Hayes had spent the last three seasons with Los Angeles and made $3.4 million in 2025-26.

There wasn't any room left for Hayes with the Lakers after they acquired center Walker Kessler from the Jazz and signed him to a massive four-year, $130 million contract on Wednesday. Los Angeles also boosted its frontcourt depth by signing big man Sandro Mamukelashvili to a four-year, $52 million contract that includes a player option in the final year.

Coupled with Deandre Ayton exercising his player option to return, there was simply no room left for Hayes on the depth chart.

Hayes played in 66 games for the Lakers this past season with nine starts and averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds. He shot a career-best 75.6 percent from the floor as a frequent pick-and-roll finisher.

Hayes spent the year as the primary backup to center Deandre Ayton, who played in a career-high 72 games in his first year in Los Angeles. They gave the Lakers a reliable rotation at the center position to open things up for the star trio of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

The Lakers finished with a 53-29 record to win the Pacific Division title for the second straight year. They defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs before being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semifinals.

The Jazz are coming off a lost 2025-26 campaign in which they tied for the worst record in the Western Conference at 22-60. Utah scored the No. 2 pick in this year's draft and used it to select Kansas sharpshooter Darryn Peterson.

Signing Hayes gives the Jazz some extra frontcourt depth as they try to complete their rebuild and contend for a spot in the playoffs next season.