JULY 6: The Lakers have officially re-signed Hachimura, the team confirmed today in a press release.
JUNE 30: The Lakers have reached an agreement with Rui Hachimura, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sources tell Charania that the restricted free agent forward will sign a three-year, $51MM contract to remain in Los Angeles.
According to Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), Hachimura’s deal will be fully guaranteed.
The ninth pick of the 2019 draft, Hachimura spent his first three-plus NBA seasons with the Wizards, averaging 13.0 PPG and 5.1 RPG on .479/.356/.776 shooting in 177 games over that span (118 starts, 27.8 MPG). In 30 games with the Wizards in 2022/23, he averaged 13.0 PPG and 4.3 RPG on .488/.337/.759 shooting in 24.3 MPG off the bench.
Hachimura was traded to the Lakers in January in exchange for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks. His regular-season numbers actually declined with L.A., with the Japanese forward posting 9.6 PPG and 4.7 RPG on .485/.296/.721 shooting in 33 games (nine starts, 22.4 MPG).
However, he had a scorching hot playoff run, posting a .557/.487/.882 shooting line across 16 postseason appearances. He also chipped in 12.2 PPG and 3.6 in 24.3 MPG during the Lakers’ journey to the Western Conference Finals.
Hachimura was eligible for a rookie scale extension before last season started and reportedly received an offer in the range of $12-14MM per year, but passed on that opportunity in search of a bigger deal in free agency. It turned out to be a wise financial decision, as he’ll be making $17MM annually on his new contract.
In case you missed it, the Lakers have also reached free agent agreements with guard Gabe Vincent and forward Taurean Prince.
Rui Hachimura getting 3 years $51 million is a great deal for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rui Hachimura can either start or be the 6th man on our team.
Pretty big number for a bench wing man. Anyway 頑張って Rui!
Love it, wanted a 4 year deal but this is nice
I think you’ll see a different Rui than the Wiz/Gonzaga Rui moving forward
The fugg was wrong with Gonzaga Rui? Wiz Rui I get.
Rui Hachimura is a very nice player that’s only 25 years old and will only get better and better.
I hear they’re getting Cam Reddish too, pretty great day for the Lakers
Big overpay. Its kind of funny, just 10 years ago Brook Lopez was the second highest paid player at 17 million dollars in the league, now Hachimura is getting paid like prime Brook Lopez, what a joke
What’s the joke?
Lakers are doing a good job of putting together a good team.