LOS ANGELES – The Lakers’ already depleted frontline just got a little thinner.
Backup center Jaxson Hayes suffered a left ankle sprain in practice Tuesday, the team announced. He will miss Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies and be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks, the team said.
Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters Tuesday that another one of L.A.’s backup big men, Christian Wood, suffered a setback while ramping up his recovery from offseason surgery on his left knee and will miss at least another month.
Hayes is coming off one of his best games of the season, posting 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting, six rebounds and a blocked shot while closing out L.A.’s win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday after Anthony Davis exited after getting poked in his left eye.
The Lakers outscored the Raptors by 21 in the 21 minutes Hayes was on the floor.
Davis visited an ophthalmologist on Monday, sources told ESPN, and he told reporters his eye feels “fine” and he is cleared to return for the Grizzlies game.
With Hayes and Wood out, the Lakers roster features just one center other than Davis: two-way player Christian Koloko.
The former second-round pick out of the University of Arizona missed the entire 2023-24 season because of a blood clot issue.
He has played in three games since being cleared to return by the NBA’s “fitness to play” panel – two for the Lakers and one for the South Bay Lakers, the organization’s G League affiliate.
