Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers
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Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers
In the end, when the Lakers see the NBA trade deadline come and go on February 5, it is more likely than not that forward Rui Hachimura will remain with the team. Hachimura is heading into free agency this summer, which makes him somewhat difficult to move because any team that would send the Lakers assets for him could, conceivably, just wait and sign him in the offseason.
Of course, that’s a tricky proposition. The Lakers could keep Hachimura on an extension worth up to four years and $114 million, but the team has shown no appetite for giving him that kind of deal. And opinions on what Hachimura’s market might be vary wildly depending on whom you ask. He is in the last year of a three-year, $51 million contract.
A team truly interested in Hachimura, then, would do well to get his Bird rights, and those would transfer in a trade. That has kept Hachimura’s market running thus far, but the problem is, he had been injured (calf strain) and was not playing well on either end of the floor even when healthy. More than anything, that has sunk Hachimura’s trade value.
Lakers F Rui Hachimura ‘Back in His Groove’
But he is pulling it together now at the right time for the Lakers. Hachimura has been coming off the bench and has done well to adjust to his role lately. He was just 4-for-13 shooting against Denver to start the Lakers’ current road trip, but he has been consistent in his last three outings, averaging 17.3 points on 57.1% shooting and 52.6% 3-point shooting.
Said Lakers coach JJ Redick: “Rui now feels like—I know he had the 4-for-13 game—but it feels like he is back in his groove. Not taking a ton of shots and kind of, I don’t think was playing well.
“I told him that so I am not trying to call him out, he was not playing well leading into the injury, and then it takes a little bit of time to get back in that rhythm. It feels like the last few games, he is back to who he was at the start of the year.”
Bench Role Is Working
Again, the Lakers are likely to hold onto Hachimura past the deadline because they value his versatility and feel he could be a key role player if this team does pull things together and make a playoff run.
It has helped, too, that Hachimura has been open to returning to a bench role after having been a starter for the first 27 games of his season. That versatility does count.
Said Redick: “It’s encouraging, just be a basketball player. Nobody’s going to care if you’re a starter or came off the bench at the end of this season or in your career. Just be a good basketball player. He’s a good basketball player. … I know that he’s in a great headspace for this, whatever it ends up being when we’re fully healthy. He is playing great basketball and his headspace is good, too.”
It figures to be good for the Lakers. Or for whomever Hachimura plays next.