The Lakers 2019 Hobby Reclamation Project
In January of 2o23, the Lakers traded for the #9 overall pick Rui Hachimura. Rui entering 2022-23 was in a make or break season, he had not lived up to the hype and the Wizards well... Were the Wizards. Rui found himself in and out of the rotation for the Lakers but come playoffs he went off. Rui averaged 17 points per game for the first 8 games of the playoffs. As a result of his playoff success he earned a 3 year / 51 million dollar contract.

With the 2019 NBA Free Agency period upon us, the Lakers signed two players with very similar fortunes of Rui before being traded to LA. Cam Reddish #10 and Jaxson Hayes #8 pick of the 2019 NBA draft.
Reddish career has been riddled with injuries in Atlanta, coaching disputes in New York, and just 3 weeks of games in Portland. The 6'9" wing man has all the measurables one could want, he resembles a Paul George smoothness with the ball. However his shot can be shaky and attitude issues can be a problem.

However since joining the Lakers, his market has increased 15.41% in just 3 days. Clearly people believe in the 23 year old wing man despite being on his fourth team in 5 years. The mentorship from LeBron, Davis, and Phil Handy should do wonders for him, it just comes down to how bad he wants it. This is likely his last chance in the league.
The Pelicans 2019 draft is turning into a real doozy with Zion's recent developments and Hayes showing flashes but never materializing into anything.
Jaxson Hayes is almost similar to an extremely young Javale McGee (minus blocks) with a game soley based around being 7 feet and freakishly athletic.

Hayes market has gone up an absurd amount since the signing, however this is relative because it was so low to begin with. Hayes could easily pan out like Mo Bamba but also could be an exciting new piece to a solid Lakers team.