Lakers News: ESPN Insiders Very Low on Rui Hachimura Trade for LA
The Lakers somewhat shocked the NBA world this week when they made a trade with the Washington Wizards for 24-year-old forward Rui Hachimura. The Lakers gave up shooting guard Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks, in a move that felt like pretty low value for a former lottery pick.
Many around the game of basketball praised the Lakers for the move, but not everyone. The insiders at ESPN didn't think very highly of the move on LA's side, giving them a grade of a 'C' for the deal. Here's a part of Kevin Pelton's reasoning for grading it so low.
"Four seasons into his NBA career, the idea of Hachimura's game has been better than the results," Pelton wrote. "In particular, Hachimura hasn't filled out the box score as well as you'd like. Per 36 minutes, he's averaged just 1.1 combined steals and blocks this season, putting him 309th among the 369 players with at least 250 minutes. Hachimura is also a below-average defensive rebounder and playmaker for a combo forward, leaving him highly dependent on scoring to create value (13 PPG). ...
"Perhaps the Lakers can get more from Hachimura than the Wizards did and make him a long-term contributor. Still, for that money and the second-round picks, I would have targeted a player with more proven production."
While it's fair to say Hachimura hasn't lived up to the hype just yet, I don't think the Lakers deserve a 'C' for buying low on a 24-year-old with the length and athleticism to be a strong two-way player in this league.
As of right now, the Lakers have just three players under contract next season — LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Max Christie. If they didn't make a trade, they would be heading into another offseason of trying to start from scratch, as they hope to build a contender in LeBron's final years of his career.
So instead, the Lakers went out and got a 24-year-old former ninth overall pick, who they hope can develop into the two-way star he was projected to be out of college. The Lakers didn't have to give up one of their highly coveted first-round picks, and got rid of Kendrick Nunn, who had a +/- of -21 in 39 games with the Lakers.
While I don't think the Lakers deserved an A, we at All Lakers were much more complimentary of the deal in our trade grades article. And so far, Hachimura looks like a perfect fit in LA, scoring 12 points on 4/7 shooting, and adding six rebounds. He also led the Lakers in the +/- category in their win over the San Antonio Spurs at +17. He played just 21 minutes, but that role is sure to expand the more he gets acclimated with his new team.
