Lakers News: LA Officially Announces Trade For Rui Hachimura

Say hello to the newest Laker!

The previously-announced Los Angeles Lakers trade that will send out Kendrick Nunn's expiring deal and three future second-round draft picks to the Washington Wizards in exchange for young power forward Rui Hachimura is now official, per a new Lakers press release!

“We are excited to welcome Rui and his family to the Los Angeles Lakers,” team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka is quoted as saying in the statement. “Adding both size and depth to the wing position has been a goal, and the chance to accomplish that by acquiring a player with Rui’s two-way skills and upside was an opportunity that doesn’t present itself often. We want to thank Kendrick Nunn and his family for his time as a Laker, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

LA signed Nunn to a two-year, $10.3 million contract using its mid-level exception in the summer of 2021 in what has retroactively become an absolutely disastrous agreement. Nunn missed the entire 2021-22 season with a lingering bone bruise injury in his knee, and since returning has not looked like the same player he was during his first two seasons in the league, when he was a part-time starter with the Miami Heat. 

The 27-year-old Nunn posted averages of 6.7 points on .406/.325/.810 shooting splits across 39 games for LA (two starts), plus 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists. He's been a fringe rotation player at best, and was probably destined to ride pine once all of LA's guards returned from injuries. There was a positional logjam at the guard spot, and Nunn has no more upside. Adding Hachimura, who fulfills a position of need for the Lakers and will become a great catch-and-shoot three-point shooting destination for stars LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, is a virtual (low-value) home run for Los Angeles.