Lakers 248 Experts Break Down Free Agencies Of Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves
Doug McKain, Noah Camras and Ricardo Sandoval of All Lakers/Lakers 248 recently got together to discuss the free agent futures of two talent young Los Angeles Lakers bench players, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves, among other topics.
Reaves and Hachimura will both be restricted free agents this summer, meaning LA will have the option to match any offer tendered to them by a rival club.
Should LA retain both Hachimura and Reaves? Will it? Time will tell, although we have seen a tendency from LA to give up on players a little too early in the recent past.
The first restricted free agent discussed was Rui Hachimura, the combo forward LA acquired for three future second-round draft picks and the expiring deal of useless reserve guard Kendrick Nunn back in January. The 6'8" Gonzaga alum has been a bit underwhelming since joining the Lakers, Since joining the team, he's averaged 9.8 points on .450/.275/.711 shooing splits and 5.3 rebounds. That 27.5% three-point shooting mark (on 2.2 tries) is pretty disappointing, since his theoretical appeal was as a catch-and-shoot option for drivers to dish to.
"I feel like the idea of Rui Hachimura is better than the play of him," Camras opined. "Fans were really excited when the Lakers got him, 6'8" wing, space the floor, young former lottery pick... He hasn't really lived up to that yet. There's a reason that the Wizards were trying to dump him... He's been horrible as a shooter."
"He's supposed to be good at the corner threes, can't hit an open corner three. It seems like all his shots always hit front-rim... He just hasn't been the great floor-spacer shooter we were expecting him to be on this team."
"He is a distressed asset at this point of his career," McKain weighed in. "Do you think the Lakers should sign him to a new deal this summer?"
"I think him playing poorly is not a bad thing for LA, because the better he plays the higher his price tag is going to be. He's someone that obviously they have intentions of keeping," Camras noted. "But if he came in averaging 20 points, eight rebounds, eight rebounds a game, shooting at a high clip, his price tag goes up... If you can get Rui at $10-12 million a year... that's great value, this is a guy who you still want to believe in, take the chance on."
This writer respectfully disagrees. Hachimura has been so lackluster on a team that appears to have every intention of winning now, I'm not sure he's worth committing that kind of money to if you can't count on him on either end of the floor. There will be some intriguing, more dependable forward options hitting the market this summer. Depending on how LA chooses to operate with its salaries, it may be worth looking elsewhere for a cheaper, more reliable option.
"What are you comfortable paying for [Austin Reaves]?" McKain asked. "I'm thinking something [like] three years, $30 million, maybe even four years, $45 million."
"I really feel like Reaves has broken out of the barrier that I feel like a lot of Lakers fan favorites fall into," Sandoval said. "And that's either that you stay a fan favorite for a couple plays and you know they're good for a couple things, or you really transcend into a player that is going to become a key part of their rotation, and Reaves has really done that."
Reaves is worth retaining for the right price. The standard mid-level exception is projected to be in the neighborhood of $11.4 million this summer, per Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors. Something in that $9-12 million range seems in line with what he's shown he can do so far.
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