Welcome to our Lakers Season Preview Series! For the next several weeks, we’ll be writing columns every weekday, breaking down the biggest questions we have about every player the Lakers added this offseason. Today, we look at Rui Hachimura.
There have been many stages of Rui Hachimura’s time in Los Angeles.
First, he was part of the new arrivals that boosted the team to the playoffs in his first season. Then, he became a key piece of the starting lineup that helped them become an offensive juggernaut.
However, after being a relative constant over the last few seasons, Rui has faded into the background of conversations. He now enters the final year of his contract with some uncertainty about his future and his role with the team.
Is he best suited as a sixth man? Can he defend at a high enough level to remain a starter? Is he a good enough fit with Luka to remain with the Lakers after this season?
For someone who has proven quite a bit with the Lakers, there remains many questions this season will go some way in answering.
What is his best-case scenario?
While there is typically a fairly straightforward approach to this question for players, this one isn’t so simple for Rui, mainly because there are two routes for him to go this year.
Is his best-case scenario in the starting lineup where he remains a knockdown shooter that can space the floor while continuing to show improvement defensively? Last season during the playoffs, Rui was used in a number of ways on the defensive end, including on Anthony Edwards, and showed versatility. Was that a look at how he could be used this year?
Or is the best-case scenario him embracing a role off the bench? A move out of the starting lineup could facilitate a better defensive fit in the starting lineup — likely Smart — and also provide a scoring punch off the bench. In a best-case scenario, he is one of the frontrunners for Sixth Man of the Year and still closes games on the nights when the matchups are favorable or he’s really cooking.
Personally, I lean toward the latter being the more likely of those best-case scenarios, but both could be possibilities.
What is his worst-case scenario?
Since coming to LA, Rui has been a very solid role player. He’s someone who, when given an instruction or directive, will apply it to his game. When he first arrived, he was instructed to focus on 3-point shooting and he responded with the two best seasons of his career shooting from range.
Last year, there was a greater emphasis on corner crashing offensively, so he grabbed the most rebounds per game since his sophomore season.
All that is to say that it’s hard to predict what a worst-case scenario looks like short of a complete regression of the last two seasons, which doesn’t feel too realistic.
Injuries could be factored into a worst-case scenario, especially as Rui only played 59 games last season, but that’s a far-too-simple response to the prompt. This isn’t too say there’s not a bad version of Rui that’s possible this season, but it is to say that there is a certain floor that feels relatively high for him.
A worst-case season likely involves his 3-point shot not falling anywhere close to the 41.8% rate it has the last two seasons. It also involves him taking steps back defensively and as a rebounder. The progression he showed last season doesn’t carry over and he’s not quite as impactful on the other end of the floor.
What is his most likely role on the team?
As noted above, my guess is that, while it may not be that way at the start of the season, Rui ends up coming off the bench to be the team’s super sub. There will still be plenty of minutes, shots and opportunities available, but it’ll just be in a different role this year.
When LeBron sits, which is hopefully a lot more this year to preserve him for the playoffs, Rui can step into the starting lineup. Otherwise, he could have a strong case for Sixth Man of the Year this season.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
