Jaxson Hayes is one of the stranger stories on this roster. He's the son of two coaches, and he barely played varsity basketball until his senior year of high school. He went eighth in a draft, lost his spot in New Orleans, and became Luka Dončić's favorite target in Los Angeles. He's an Ohio kid who now holds a Slovenian passport. He also has a 2021 arrest that made his signing controversial in Utah, and we cover that below too.
A football family, and a late growth spurt
Hayes was born in Norman, Okla., in 2000, while both of his parents were assistant coaches at Oklahoma. His father, Jonathan Hayes, was an All-American tight end at Iowa who played 12 NFL seasons with the Chiefs and Steelers, then coached the Bengals' tight ends for well over a decade. His mother, Kristi Hayes, was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year at Drake. The family moved to Cincinnati when Jaxson was 3.
At Archbishop Moeller High School he was a wide receiver first and an afterthought in basketball. His high school coach, Carl Kremer, put him "No. 20 among 20" on the freshman teams, per the AP, and as a junior reserve he averaged about a point a game. Then he grew, from roughly 6-foot as a freshman to 6-10 as a senior. One AAU tournament in the spring of 2017 changed everything:
"Going into the summer, I had one offer. By the end, I had 42."
He quit football the moment that first basketball offer arrived ("They were going at my knees and back and stuff"). As a senior he set Moeller's single-season blocks record (123), and Kremer had the best line about him: "I call him Halley's Comet ... He's once in a lifetime."
Texas and the draft
Hayes committed to Texas over Kentucky, Xavier, Georgetown, and Butler, and in one season under Shaka Smart he averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds and shot 72.8% from the field, a school record. He was Big 12 Freshman of the Year and made the conference All-Defensive team. A left knee injury in the Big 12 tournament ended his college career early, and Texas won the NIT without him.
Atlanta took him No. 8 in the 2019 draft and traded his rights to New Orleans, part of a deal for the No. 4 pick the Pelicans had just received from the Lakers in the Anthony Davis trade. Remember that one, because the Lakers come back around.
Four years in New Orleans
The Pelicans years had flashes and plenty of mess. He was a high-flying rookie on a team built around Zion Williamson, and his first veteran mentor was JJ Redick. In 2020 he was left off the Rising Stars game and posted a profane video about it, then apologized: "I used extremely poor judgment and inexcusable language in a moment of frustration."
His best stretch came in 2021-22. He started the final weeks of the season and averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds over the last 23 games, per the Pelicans. That playoff run also got him ejected for shoving Jae Crowder. A torn UCL in his left elbow wrecked 2022-23, he fell out of the rotation, and in June 2023 New Orleans declined to make him a qualifying offer, which made him an unrestricted free agent.
The 2021 arrest
In July 2021, police answered a domestic disturbance call at Hayes's home in Woodland Hills, Calif. According to police and court records reported by ESPN and the AP, he struggled with officers who wanted to question a woman at the house, was hit twice with a stun gun, and pushed an officer into a wall. The Los Angeles City Attorney later filed misdemeanor charges, including domestic violence.
In 2022 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor false imprisonment and resisting an officer. He was sentenced to three years of probation, 450 hours of community service, and a year of weekly domestic violence classes. His ex-girlfriend also sued him, alleging assault and battery; the suit was settled in 2025 with terms not disclosed, per her attorney via TMZ.
The NBA didn't discipline him at the time. When TMZ published surveillance video from that night in November 2024, the league said it was reopening its investigation. It has never announced a result.
The Jazz say they looked into it before signing him. Austin Ainge told The Salt Lake Tribune:
"We've done a lot of background research. He's been a model citizen before and after. … He's been great since he's been here."
Our take: we're not going to pretend this didn't happen or that it's irrelevant because he's useful on a basketball court. It was serious, he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors, and fans who are uncomfortable with the signing have a fair point. What we can say is that the court case is done, and no similar allegation has been reported since. We'll judge the rest by how he carries himself here.
Los Angeles, and Luka
The Lakers signed Hayes to a minimum deal in 2023, and the Davis connection came full circle in February 2025, when the Lakers traded Davis for Luka Dončić. Hayes became the starting center almost by default, starting 35 of his 56 games that season, and turned out to be exactly what Dončić likes: a big who rolls hard and catches everything thrown near the rim. Dončić said it plainly, via The Athletic: "You can see the difference. ... For me, it helps me a lot."
LeBron James gave him a public shout-out on his podcast, per SI:
"Him stepping into that void losing AD — it's a lot. ... Jaxson has been unbelievable in his minutes and we're gonna need that from him."
His former mentor Redick was now his coach. "My rookie year he was my vet," Hayes told WCPO. "Now, he's my head coach. It's crazy." In 2025-26, as the backup to Deandre Ayton, Hayes shot a career-best 75.6% from the field. He also stuck up for Dončić when Kris Dunn went at him ("I just didn't like the way he shoved Luka," per Heavy), and earned a one-game suspension in January for shoving the Wizards' mascot. Redick's response: "He made an error in judgement, and he owned up to it and apologized."
Why he's Slovenian now
This is the part that sounds made up. In October 2025, Hayes said he was trying to get a Slovenian passport so he could play for Slovenia's national team alongside Dončić. FIBA allows one naturalized player per team, and the idea came from the agent he shares with Dončić. Here's Hayes, per CBS Sports:
"We have the same agent, and my parents and his parents are kind of all working on it right now. They came to me with the idea. ... USA doesn't do open tryouts, and I feel like there's guys they invite to the USA one that shouldn't be there. I want to play on that stage, so I'm going to do whatever it takes to play on that stage."
It went through as an extraordinary naturalization, which Slovenia's government grants when it's in the national interest. In April, Hayes told reporters "We got my Slovenian passport. That's all he's been telling me, saying he's my Slovenian brother every time," per Eurohoops. He also admitted, per RTV Slovenija, that he knows almost no Slovenian. The Slovenian federation made it official on June 16, 2026, after he took the oath at the Slovenian embassy in Washington, per 24ur. The move wasn't universally loved in Slovenia, where Sportklub questioned it because of his legal history.
He hasn't played for Slovenia yet. He sat out the summer World Cup qualifying windows, and the federation's sports director, Saša Dončić (yes, Luka's dad), said there's no point bringing him in until Luka plays too. "There's no sense bringing in Jaxson Hayes without Luka Dončić," he told Siol (translated from Slovenian).
So Utah's backup center is now a countryman of the Lakers' superstar. Jazz-Lakers games just got a little more interesting.
Why Utah
The Jazz agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal with a team option on the second year on July 1, per the Deseret News. It was the same day they sent Walker Kessler to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade. So Hayes replaced Kessler in Utah while Kessler replaced him in L.A.
He was supposed to back up Jusuf Nurkić. Then Nurkić tore the plantar plate in his right foot in the preseason opener and will miss at least four weeks, and Hayes started the next two games. His description of the job, per the Deseret News:
"That's definitely part of my game, you know, pick-and-roll, dribble handoff type of guy. Coach brought me in to come help kind of bring in the offense and help out the offense a little bit and just help get these younger guys going in the right places."
He also said Utah is asking him to do something new: "I've never played with any other bigs. Most I played was with (Anthony Davis), and that was very rarely." Against the Spurs he had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half, and Will Hardy liked what he saw, per the Jazz: "Jaxson provides a lob threat for us and the team is beginning to understand the power of that."
Role
Hayes is a 7-footer who lives above the rim. He shot 75.6% from the field last season, finishes lobs, and protects the rim in short bursts. With Nurkić out, he's the starting center next to Jaren Jackson Jr., which is new for him. The timing with Utah's guards is still a work in progress (a few lobs sailed against San Antonio), but nobody else on the roster gives Peterson, George, and Collier a target like this.
2026-27 prediction
He opens the season as the starter and gives way to Nurkić in November. After that he's the backup five, and if Nurkić's minutes shrink he could start again. The free-throw line (65.3% last season) is still the known weakness, and so are fouls when he's asked to guard bigger centers for long stretches.
Sources: AP via NCAA.com, Texas Athletics, CBS Sports, NBA.com, ESPN, The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, CBS Sports, Eurohoops, 24ur, RTV Slovenija, Siol, and Sportklub.