One player who sometimes gets lost in the shuffle for the Los Angeles Lakers is forward Rui Hachimura. Although he is a gifted scorer and, at times, a capable defender, fans sometimes either forget about him or underrate him.
There are times when Hachimura looks virtually invisible on offense, as sometimes his teammates won’t involve him in the offense. But when he is involved, he is an effective one-on-one scorer, not to mention a strong finisher who has the ability to move without the ball and get out in transition.
New Lakers head coach JJ Redick outlined his plans for Hachimura during his introductory press conference. He said he wants the Japanese native to shoot more 3-pointers while moving more without the basketball and crashing the offensive boards.
Via Lakers Nation:
“I thought he had a fantastic year last year,” Redick said. “… I had great conversations this weekend, two that I loved were my conversations with Austin [Reaves] and my conversation with Rui. I think for him in terms of how I envision him on this team, I want him shooting more 3s. So, that’s a big part of it. I brought up the offensive rebounding, I think he can really become an elite offensive rebounder.
“As we build out our offensive system and how we’re going to play, when we incorporate moving and cutting, Rui can be an excellent cutter and part of that is because we’re going to manipulate screening angles, he’s going to get mismatches and he can really score the basket if he has smaller players on him.”
Hachimura set career-highs this past season in shooting percentage and points per 36 minutes. He permanently moved into the starting lineup in early February, and as a starter, he put up 15.4 points a game while shooting 57.5% from the field and 43.9% from 3-point range. Overall, he attempted 3.4 3-pointers in 26.9 minutes a game during the 2023-24 campaign.
Hachimura has never been a productive rebounder, but with his 6-foot-8, 230-pound frame, one could imagine him plugging up the middle on the offensive boards if he is in position to do so.
Whether he continues to start or settles into some sort of sixth-man role, he could play a big part in whatever type of success Los Angeles has this coming season.
