Los Angeles Lakers: Three centers to know for the 2019 NBA Draft

By Jason Reed | May 2, 2019

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(Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

1. Jaxson Hayes, Texas

There is typically a lot of disagreement during the draft season on who the best players in the draft class are. This year, though, there really are not as many of those discussions. Everyone knows that Zion Williamson is the best player in this draft by a mile and that Jaxson Hayes is the best center in the draft.

The perfect part for the Lakers is that Hayes is likely going to fall around the Lakers selection because of a knee injury. It is not all that serious but it would not be surprising to see him fall two or three selections to the Lakers at number 11.

Listed at six-foot-11, Hayes is a scoring machine that would thrive alongside LeBron James. He is one of the better scorers around the rim that we have seen in recent drafts and would thrive on LeBron driving and kicking the ball down near the bucket.

The biggest problem with relying on Hayes, or really any of these rookie centers for that matter, is that there is a worry if they can take on significant minutes in their rookie season. None of these guys are the absolute cream of the crop, so that could be a hurdle to overcome.

However, Hayes has enough talent to be successful and would be playing alongside someone that would get the best out of him. He could surprise some people in LA.

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