The Los Angeles Lakers have mostly wrapped up the most significant offseason the team has had since landing LeBron James in 2018, completely remaking a roster that most expected the team to mostly keep intact. Instead, the Lakers figure to have three new starters in the mix to go with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. But L.A. is weighing the opportunity to bring back one player it sent out into unrestricted free agency this week–forward Rui Hachimura.
It’s something of a surprise that Hachimura has not landed a new team, as he has developed into a reliable and versatile forward in recent years.
He averaged 11.5 points last season and made 44.3% of his 3-pointers, playing in the final year of a three-year, $51 million contract. Around the NBA, Hachimura was expected to warrant a midlevel exception-sized deal, worth $15 million in the first year, but no such contract materialized for him, and now he is in a bit of a holding pattern as he waits to see, first, where LeBron James goes and, second, whether a team can create salary room for him.
The Lakers could be the team to create that room. But they’re not alone: Two of the teams also hot on Hachimura’s trail are Western Conference rivals Minnesota and Golden State.
Timberwolves, Warriors After Rui Hachimura
Both the Warriors and the Wolves are in the hunt to add James, and that complicates Hachimura’s situation. And, like the Lakers, both would have to carve out space to add Hachimura if that is the path they choose. But the interest is there.
As Jake Fischer of The Stein Line Substack writes, “As the market has developed, sources say Hachimura’s representation has now been in contact with Minnesota and Golden State as well. The Timberwolves have a well-chronicled need for a power forward after committing to trade away Randle and Naz Reid so they can pair LaMelo Ball with Anthony Edwards and Hachimura is said to stand as their current top choice at the position.”
Lakers Would Need to Create Space
For the Lakers, the ability to bring back Hachimura depends on what happens with Jarred Vanderbilt, a player the Lakers no longer want on the roster. The Lakers would like to trade Vanderbilt, preferably into someone’s cap space/exception, but that option is pretty much null because there isn’t much cap space out there and because the Lakers can’t offer draft capital to entice a deal.
The other option is to waive Vanderbilt and stretch the cap hit on his salary over multiple years.
As one Western Conference exec told Heavy: “They have been trying to find a taker to Jarred Vanderbilt for a while now. They could still keep looking but that is probably going to be a stretch sort of thing, waive him and stretch him. You save some money and you can bring back Rui who is a guy who, look at that roster, they really need him. But the trade is tough, cutting is more likely.”
Lakers Rui Hachimura Reunion Could Be Ruined by West Rival