Lakers: LA Should Trade For Young Wizards Power Forward Rumored To Be On Market
Fourth-year Washington Wizards power forward Rui Hachimura is being made available via trade by the only team he's ever known, report Shams Charania and Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
The Wizards have already had conversations with multiple teams in the Western Conference about a Hachimura deal, per Charania and Robbins. The question of which teams in the West has not been clarified in the report, though it would certainly behoove your Los Angeles Lakers to kick the tires on such a deal. The 6'8" forward, selected with the No. 9 pick out of Gonzaga in 2019, remains on his rookie scale contract.
Hachimura is a solid player who, as an impending restricted free agent, remains under team control (Washington has the right to match any contract offered to him this summer). The main reason his team is looking to move off his deal is that it already has too many power and small forwards, and he's feeling the positional squeeze a bit.
What would it cost the Lakers to acquire Hachimura? For salary-matching purposes, LA could dangle the expiring $5.3 million contract of underwhelming 6'2" veteran bench point guard Kendrick Nunn, who because LA has too many point guards has been forced to play way too many minutes at shooting guard. The real question is, what level of future draft equity would Los Angeles offer Washington in addition to Nunn? Is Hachimura worth a lottery-protected first-round pick? Would Washington instead accept multiple second-round draft selections that, if LA's performance this year is any indication, could be pretty high?
Hachimura would add some floor-spacing at the four spot, but next to LeBron James could conceivably play some small forward. The 24-year-old is averaging 12.4 points on .480/.321/.768 shooting splits this year, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists, but he's a career 35.3% shooter from long range and one would have to hope his three-point shooting could stabilize with a new club. It's a bit of a risk, but he's a talented young player with plenty of upside would could fulfill a need for LA.
