Rui Hachimura
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Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers is rumored to be on the trade block.
The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly made Rui Hachimura available for trade ahead of the February 5 trade deadline. However, Hachimura’s market is not robust despite being on an expiring contract.
According to Forbes’ Evan Sidery, the Lakers were initially hesitant in including Hachimura in trade talks. Still, the current situation called for them to do everything to improve the roster ahead of the playoffs.
Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reported more misery for the purple and gold franchise, with Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber all having little to no value around the NBA.
But what if the Lakers can send Hachimura to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for two high-energy players?
Hachimura Called Cheap Option for Detroit
On a recent episode of the Hoops Tonight podcast, Jason Timpf named three possible upgrades for the Detroit Pistons ahead of the deadline. Timpf mentioned Lauri Markkanen as the perfect fit to Detroit’s plans, but the Utah Jazz want a lot in exchange for their All-Star forward.
Michael Porter Jr. was next on the list and seems to be another good option for the Pistons. The Brooklyn Nets are rumored to be open to trading MPJ, who has already been linked to multiple teams, including the Golden State Warriors.
Timpf’s third alternative is the Lakers’ Rui Hachimura, whom he called the cheapest option.
“If you want to go super cheap and find like a big power forward that can shoot, that’s not going to cost you much, you could find a guy like Rui Hachimura that the Lakers are looking to trade at this deadline,” Timpf said.
Trade Idea Sends Hachimura to Pistons
If the Pistons don’t want to empty their assets vault for Lauri Markkanen or Michael Porter Jr., they can opt for Rui Hachimura and go the wait-and-see approach in the playoffs.
Here’s what Jason Timpf suggested:
Pistons get: Rui Hachimura
Lakers get:Caris LeVert and Javonte Green
“If you wanted to say super cheap, you could do something like Rui Hachimura for Caris LeVert and Javonte Green. Rui’s shooting 42% this year in catch-and-shoot threes, 49% when he’s wide open. Like if Rui’s open, that thing’s going in. And he would step in and immediately be the second-best shooter on the team. So, he’d help in that sense. The problem with Rui is he’s not a great rebounder/defender,” Timpf said.
On the Lakers’ side of things, LeVert is a better defender than Hachimura. He can also create his own shot, which makes him a better option as a sixth man. Javonte Green is not a household name, but he’s a ball of energy who can disrupt opposing offenses.
Hachimura To Continue Coming Off The Bench
Since returning from a right calf strain, Rui Hachimura has been primarily coming off the bench. Hachimura needed a couple of games to get his rhythm back, but he’s averaging 11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists in his last five games.
Despite his recent string of performances, coach JJ Redick will continue to bring Hachimura off the bench until Austin Reaves makes his return, as reported by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Reaves is slated to play his first game since Christmas on January 28 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. It will be interesting to see if Redick reverts to his previous starting five or makes a bigger change.