Lakers News: Rui Hachimura On The Rise In Postseason

LA's reserve combo forward has improved at just the right time.

Los Angeles Lakers combo forward Rui Hachimura has been having himself a bit of a resurgence since the NBA calendar flipped to April.

Across his final five games of the 2022-23 regular season (all during this month), the 6'8" forward averaged 12.8 points on 53.8% shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 blocks.

Even though he was demoted to a reserve role after LA acquired power forward Jarred Vanderbilt, Hachimura has been making the most of his spot minutes off the bench, and has at times been an interesting alternate option to Vanderbilt when head coach Darvin Ham feels Vanderbilt's lack of a jumper clogs LA's floor spacing too much. 

To wit, Hachimura suited up for 11 minutes and 21 seconds during the fourth quarter of his team's 108-102 overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night, a clear sign of Ham's trust. Vanderbilt also had a particularly ineffective night. He scored zero points on 0-of-2 shooting from the floor in 22:13. Hachimura, in contrast, had 12 points while shooting 3-of-8 from the floor (2-of-5 from deep) and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. He also registered a +20 plus-minus.

Hachimura played a total of 26:36 in the bout -- i.e. four more minutes than Vanderbilt.

Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times writes that Hachimura's improved recent play has been a boon for the Lakers, giving the team some added flexibility as it moves through the postseason.

Hachimura will be a restricted free agent this summer, and all signs point to the Lakers looking to retain him if the price is right.

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