Hachimura is about to have a breakout season with the Lakers. Hachimura has experienced a “personal renaissance” and is “reinvigorated as a player again,” in the words of general manager Rob Pelinka before the team’s training camp began Thursday.
Part of the reason the Lakers reached the Western Conference Finals was Hachimura’s 48.7% three-point shooting rate and 12.2 points per game when he came off the bench in the playoffs. That earned him a three-year, $51 million contract, but his spot in the rotation has yet to be determined.
On Thursday, he named four of his five starters: D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Ham also announced that the final spot in the starting lineup was up for grabs.
That battle will likely come down to Hachimura and current starter Jared Vanderbilt. Both are talented players, but Hachimura makes more sense as a starter.
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Why Hachimura should be last in the Lakers starting lineup
The Lakers tried to start Hachimura in the 2022-23 regular season, and he performed well during the outbreak period. However, due to injuries, Hachimura’s lineup is patchwork. He only played 20 minutes with Reeves, James, and Davis in the regular season.
Things have changed in the playoffs. The Lakers have one of their best lineups in the playoffs, as long as they get Hachimura to replace Vanderbilt, along with Reaves, James, Davis and either Russell or Dennis Schroder .
Vanderbilt also played well on this team, but with Hachimura’s help, the Lakers were essentially unstoppable in those minutes, outscoring their opponents by 52 points, according to NBA Stats.
| queue | minute | Positive or negative |
|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt, Reeves, James, Davis, Russell/Schroder | 187 | +12 |
| Hachimura, Reeves, James, Davis, Russell/Schroder | 126 | +52 |
Hachimura adds important qualities on both sides of the ball that Vanderbilt cannot provide. Vanderbilt is a reluctant shooter, shooting just 24.1 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs. The team would cut him to put extra pressure on the rest of the Lakers’ roster.
The team can’t employ the same strategy when Hachimura is on the court. When they trailed Hachimura, he would punish them with a steady stream of 3-pointers.
This shooting threat is extremely important for the Lakers to be at their best. They were a disastrous 25-31 before the trade deadline, and the team was dominated by bad shooters like Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley next to James and Davis. .
After adding better shooters and completely revamping the roster, the Lakers went 18-8. James and Davis were able to create opportunities without crowding the paint, and the team carried that momentum into the Western Conference Finals.
Hachimura lost to Vanderbilt defensively. Vanderbilt is an elite defensive player who can guard multiple positions. But Hachimura has made progress in this regard. Hamm said Thursday that he “made a huge leap defensively last year.”
The numbers back this up. With Rui Hachimura next to Reeves, James and Davis, the Lakers defended well. According to NBA Stats, Hachimura plus the starting group allowed 2.7 fewer points per 100 possessions than the Lakers’ overall playoff defense.
Hachimura’s one-on-one defense has also improved significantly, with opponents shooting 6.4% worse than their overall field goal percentage when he’s guarding them, according to NBA Stats. That’s the second-best mark in the league, behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Following Rui Hachimura’s success with the team last season, Ham believes he can be a huge contributor.
“All I expect from Rui this year is big, big, big,” Hamm told reporters on Thursday. “He’s still a young player, he still has different levels to reach and he’s already at an extremely high level. . So, we’ll figure it out, but he’s definitely going to be deep in it.”
Hachimura can help the Lakers in either role, but the best way to utilize him — both for himself and the team — may be as a starter.