Rui Hachimura is staying in Los Angeles. He’s just switching sides of the hallway.
The former Lakers forward formally agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with the LA Clippers in free agency. And after the news got out, he did what players usually do when they leave a team they spent years with. He wrote a goodbye.
“Thank you Lakers Nation for the past 3 years,” Hachimura posted on social media. “We had some great moments and I will always remember the memories we made together.”
The goodbye comes with context. It wasn’t that the Lakers didn’t want Hachimura back. It was more that they ran out of room. Once the front office locked in deals with Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton, plus the sign-and-trade with Utah for Walker Kessler, the math got tight. Unless Hachimura was willing to take a major pay cut, there just wasn’t a spot.
So he went up the freeway to the Clippers. And the Clippers got a guy who turned into one of the Lakers’ most reliable playoff performers this past spring.
Playoff Numbers That Jump Off the Page
During the Lakers’ postseason run, Hachimura averaged a career-high 17.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists. But the shooting splits are where it gets wild. He hit 54.9 percent from the field, 56.9 percent from three and 72.7 percent from the free-throw line. That kind of efficiency is rare in the playoffs, especially from a guy who started the season coming off the bench.
Defenses couldn’t sag off him. He made them pay from deep. And when they closed out hard, he put the ball on the floor and got to his spots. The Lakers used him as a small-ball four and he fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis better than just about anyone else on the roster.
Hachimura originally came to LA in a trade with the Washington Wizards ahead of the 2022-23 deadline. That deal cost the Lakers a first-round pick and a couple of role players. It looked like a solid move then. It looks even better now, considering what he produced in the playoffs.
What He Means for the Clippers
Out in Clipperland, Hachimura figures to slide right into the starting power forward spot. That’s a role he was already holding down for the Lakers by the end of the postseason. He’s big enough to guard fours and quick enough to stay with wings on switches. And on offense, he gives the Clippers something they didn’t always have last year: a forward who can space the floor without needing the ball in his hands for 10 seconds.
With Kawhi Leonard and James Harden commanding attention, Hachimura should get open looks from three. Whether he can replicate that 56.9 percent playoff shooting over a full season is a different question. But even if he dips to a more normal number, he’s still a legit threat from distance who can also punish closeouts with mid-range pull-ups or straight-line drives.
The Clippers are betting on him being that guy. And for $14 million a year, that’s not a bad bet at all.
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