Lakers News: Insider Grades LA's Signing Of Free Agent Rui Hachimura
Entering the offseason, one of the biggest priorities for the Los Angeles Lakers was retaining forward Rui Hachimura. The team acted quickly on day one of free agency and agreed to a new three-year deal, worth $51 million to keep him in LA. It was seen as a good deal by many for a player like Hachimura and the Lakers wanted to make sure that they didn't lose him to another team.
Bleacher Report NBA Staff only gave this signing a letter grade of "B". They explain their reasoning below.
"This feels like a lot of money for a player with an almost nonexistent assist rate, a career average of 12.5 points and below-average marks in both three-point percentage and effective field-goal percentage. But 25-year-old Rui Hachimura is still young enough to improve on his weaknesses. And he's a huge (6'8" and 230 pounds) and pretty switchable defender."
Hachimura was a key piece to the Lakers as they made their way to the Western Conference Finals. He seemed to unlock something once the playoffs started as his shooting percentage and his defensive versatility expanded. LA used him more as an undersized center in the playoffs, having him guard some of the bigger players on the opposing teams.
"If he can shoot like he did in 2021-22 (when he had a 44.7 three-point percentage in 42 games) or the 2023 playoffs (48.7 percent), he may prove worthy of this deal."
His length alone was helpful for the Lakers and wing depth is a major asset in the NBA today. So while the team may have slightly overpaid for Hachimura, they paid him for what they believe he will become.
He is still a young player with room to grow and having another season under his belt with Los Angeles could see his game grow even more. He also is familiar with the team and the system they run now so it won't be as much of him trying to figure out how to fit in anymore.
I'd likely give the team a B+ or even A- for retaining one of the more important pieces to the roster, even if they had to give a little extra money to do so.
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