The Los Angeles Lakers started their miraculous turnaround last season when they traded Kendrick Nunn and three future second-round draft picks to the Washington Wizards for forward Rui Hachimura. Hachimura had been floundering on the bench behind Kyle Kuzma, and he would get more of an opportunity to shine in L.A.
He proved the type of supplementary scoring option the team needed alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, especially during the playoffs when he had a number of big games.
Buy Lakers TicketsAt age 25, Hachimura still has plenty of room for improvement. During a media session on Thursday, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and head coach Darvin Ham detailed how the forward has been working with LeBron James during the offseason.
Rob Pelinka and Darvin Ham's full quotes on Rui Hachimura's role this year and hard work this offseason with LeBron: pic.twitter.com/3MvI2urVDA
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) September 28, 2023
What made his play even more impressive, as Ham mentioned, was some stretches of very effective defense he played against bona fide stars such as Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Japan native was used primarily off the bench last season, but there is a real chance he will be promoted to L.A.’s starting lineup this season alongside James, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves.
