The Los Angeles Lakers will soon be forced to navigate one of those brutal problems that great NBA teams have. It involves the starting lineup, and having a little bit too much in-house talent to have an easy decision on who slots in where when every member of the team is healthy.
JJ Redick and his staff have been forced to mix it up a lot in the early parts of the 2025-26 NBA season. With no LeBron James altogether, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves popping in and out of the lineup, plus other key members being absent at times, there has been very little consistency with who the starting five is.
There are some easier assumptions that can be made. When the three stars are healthy, there should be an expectation of Doncic, James, and Reaves all being featured at the beginning of the night. Likewise, no one will be threatening Deandre Ayton's spot in the starting lineup either.
What happens after that? Smart probably returns to the bench in favor of Reaves, even if the veteran guard has been the perfect role player for the Lakers. Does Rui Hachimura or Jake LaRavia get the final spot? If it is the latter, that will undoubtedly play a factor in how Rob Pelinka treats Hachimura in the 2026 offseason.
Lakers' decision will tell everyone exactly how they view Rui Hachimura
Hachimura is one of the Lakers who is set to hit unrestricted free agency in the summer upon the completion of his three-year, $51 million deal. The Lakers forward is earning close to $18.3 million in the last year of that contract during 2025-26.
This past offseason shown that teams are a lot more cautious about paying the members of their roster who are in that awkward zone of good, but not great. The current CBA climate is not a friendly one to the middle class of the NBA, which Hachimura would fall into.
To his credit, the former lottery pick has been a valuable member of the Lakers throughout his time in Los Angeles. Hachimura has averaged 12.8 points, and 4.5 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game during his career in Hollywood, shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from deep.
That 3-point mark, in particular, makes him a very attractive player to have around Doncic, who thrives with shooters. For his part, the 27-year-old forward has been tremendous for the Lakers this season.
Hachimura has averaged 16.7 points and 3.9 rebounds, shooting 58.9 percent from the field, and a blistering-hot percentage of 47.2 on his 4.0 attempts per game from beyond the arc. That should give him a strong case to be Redick's last starter when everyone is healthy.
LaRavia has not exactly been an afterthought, though. The new arrival has thrived from the get-go, and is arguably the better two-way option of the forwards in question.
Whether Hachimura is a starter will not be the make-or-break factor of his free agency negotiations, but it will not have zero consideration either. There will be undeniable ripple effects from what Redick decides is his best starting group when everyone is available.