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Rui Hachimura can breathe easy. The LA Lakers signed Christian Wood, but Hachimura is still above the new big man on the depth chart and is likely to start alongside Anthony Davis.
Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported that Hachimura will start over Wood.
Hachimura was a restricted free agent this summer. He decided to return to the Lakers after a strong run with the squad during their playoff run to the conference finals. The forward signed a three-year, $51 million deal.
Wood signed with the Lakers on a two-year, $5.7 million deal this week. The deal has a player option in the second year.
Wood figures to add bench depth and another versatile big to spell Davis or play alongside him when Davis moves more to the four as he likes to do. Hachimura will have a larger role and more minutes than the newly added Wood.
How does Hachimura fit with the Lakers?
The young forward showed his potential during the Lakers' playoff run. He added a nice feature on defense as a complimentary player next to Davis.
He and Davis worked together well to enact effective double teams. He could also guard the opponent's center, giving Davis a breather on defense and allowing him to be more of a roaming rim protector and shot blocker.
He is more versatile than Wood as well. Both can be a shooting threat from 3-point range. Hachimura greatly improved his shot last season.
The Japanese forward hit 48.7% of his 3-pointers during the 2023 playoffs. He was also effective when he went to the line. He hit 88.2% of his free throws during the playoff run.
The youngster also seemed to earn the trust of LeBron James. The legendary NBA player does not always dish the ball to his teammates in clutch situations. During the playoffs, Hachimura seemed to earn the respect of the "King: as James often passed to him for a big shot in tight situations.
The former Washington Wizard comes back to the Lakers as they attempted to keep their young core together and run it back after falling one round short of the NBA Finals last season. The team also retained Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell as part of their offseason moves. Hachimura will be among the Lakers' deep frontcourt with Davis, Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt.
