Lakers fans had been clamoring for quite a while now for the team to make a trade and the front office finally did it. It was announced on Monday that the Lakers are trading for Rui Hachimura from the Wizards and it seems like a pretty good move.
NBA fans praised GM Rob Pelinka for the trade after all the criticism he had been facing for not helping out LeBron James, who is having another outstanding season. After the trade was official, Pelinka spoke about Hachimura and revealed why they wanted him.
Said Rob Pelinka: “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.” https://t.co/veqs8rnhF9
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) January 23, 2023
Said Rob Pelinka: “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.”
Hachimura is a big body and the Lakers needed some length, as LeBron had pointed out when Anthony Davis went down. A look at the new depth chart for the Lakers after this move also shows just how much of an upgrade he will be for them. Hachimura has been coming off the bench for the Wizards this season but has managed to put up solid averages of 13.0 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 24.3 MPG. His shooting has been a bit below par this season but he excels on catch-and-shoot threes, something the Lakers have been missing.
No Lakers* have made over 40% of their catch-and-shoot 3s this season
Rui Hachimura has made 85 of 206 (41.3%) catch-and-shoot 3s over his last two seasons.
*Among 7 with at least 100 such tries pic.twitter.com/IYtCsU2GRl
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) January 23, 2023
“No Lakers* have made over 40% of their catch-and-shoot 3s this season
Rui Hachimura has made 85 of 206 (41.3%) catch-and-shoot 3s over his last two seasons.
*Among 7 with at least 100 such tries”
He really does seem like the ideal fit who helps with some of the issues that this team has had this season. The Lakers could still make more trades, as they didn’t give up any of their first-round picks here, and here is a full breakdown of some moves they can make.
Lakers Insider Reveals The Team Plans To Eventually Have Rui Hachimura As A Starter
The move seems to be a great one for Hachimura himself, as Domantas Sabonis revealed that he had always considered Los Angeles his home, long before this trade. Another positive for him is that the Lakers eventually plan to have him be a starter alongside James and Davis.
This Hachimura trade can be the first step toward the Lakers achieving something of note in this NBA season. This trade is a pretty good one but they need to push on and make a few more moves so that they can actually have a chance at making some noise in the postseason.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
