- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,196,384
- Reaction score
- 59
The Los Angeles Lakers have to say goodbye to another crucial contributor from this past season, but he won't be going far.
Per a report from ESPN's Shams Charania, former-Lakers power forward Rui Hachimura has signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers, adding a talented three point shooting wing to the Clippers' increasingly young and talented lineup.
The deal is a slight downgrade in terms of pay for Hachimura, who had one of the best shooting seasons of his career but experienced a slight downtick in scoring, rebounds and minutes per game with the Lakers, but he's still a big pickup for the Clippers and a troubling loss for the Lakers.
The Lakers have subtracted more than they've added this offseason and with Hachimura heading cross the freeway, five players that started for the Lakers during the playoffs are now either with different teams or in LeBron James' case, still in free agency but unlikely to stay with the Lakers.
According to a follow-up report from Charania, Hachimura and the Clippers had made an agreement early in the offseason that Hachimura would be on his way to Inglewood next season, but waited until the Lakers' major offseason moves were finished in order to explore the possibility of a sign-and-trade.
The Lakers apparently weren't interested in such a move and as a result, they let their fifth-best scorer from this past season walk for nothing.
Hachimura was apparently one of star Luka Doncic's "preferred targets" for the Lakers to keep this offseason, per a report from The Athletic's Law Murray, and the void that he now leaves at power forward leaves the Lakers in a precarious situation that they need to quickly address.
They've been linked heavily to Jonathan Kuminga this offseason and with Hachimura gone, a player of that caliber should become even more of a priority for Los Angeles.
The offseason has been up and down for the Lakers and even though they've made some productive moves, such as trading for Walker Kessler, the amount of players that they've lost to free agency leaves the Lakers, who were already worn thin as far as depth was concerned in the 2025-26 season, even more depleted.
It remains to be seen what other moves general manager Rob Pelinka has in store for the team and if any subsequent moves can explain the team's unwillingness to cooperate in a sign-and-trade, but for now the Purple and Gold has to sit with the sting of one of their main starters heading to their Los Angeles rival.
Continue reading...
Per a report from ESPN's Shams Charania, former-Lakers power forward Rui Hachimura has signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers, adding a talented three point shooting wing to the Clippers' increasingly young and talented lineup.
The deal is a slight downgrade in terms of pay for Hachimura, who had one of the best shooting seasons of his career but experienced a slight downtick in scoring, rebounds and minutes per game with the Lakers, but he's still a big pickup for the Clippers and a troubling loss for the Lakers.
The Lakers have subtracted more than they've added this offseason and with Hachimura heading cross the freeway, five players that started for the Lakers during the playoffs are now either with different teams or in LeBron James' case, still in free agency but unlikely to stay with the Lakers.
No Sign-and-Trade?
According to a follow-up report from Charania, Hachimura and the Clippers had made an agreement early in the offseason that Hachimura would be on his way to Inglewood next season, but waited until the Lakers' major offseason moves were finished in order to explore the possibility of a sign-and-trade.
The Lakers apparently weren't interested in such a move and as a result, they let their fifth-best scorer from this past season walk for nothing.
Hachimura was apparently one of star Luka Doncic's "preferred targets" for the Lakers to keep this offseason, per a report from The Athletic's Law Murray, and the void that he now leaves at power forward leaves the Lakers in a precarious situation that they need to quickly address.
How to Replace Hachimura
They've been linked heavily to Jonathan Kuminga this offseason and with Hachimura gone, a player of that caliber should become even more of a priority for Los Angeles.
The offseason has been up and down for the Lakers and even though they've made some productive moves, such as trading for Walker Kessler, the amount of players that they've lost to free agency leaves the Lakers, who were already worn thin as far as depth was concerned in the 2025-26 season, even more depleted.
It remains to be seen what other moves general manager Rob Pelinka has in store for the team and if any subsequent moves can explain the team's unwillingness to cooperate in a sign-and-trade, but for now the Purple and Gold has to sit with the sting of one of their main starters heading to their Los Angeles rival.
Continue reading...
