What’s next for Rui Hachimura?

As the calendar flipped from January to February, the Los Angeles Lakers were in trouble of missing the NBA Playoffs.

Back-to-back double-digit losses to the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks dropped LA down to ninth place in the Western Conference standings. Heading into a pivotal East Coast road trip against the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks, head coach Darvin Ham planned on putting Jared Vanderbilt in the starting lineup to reunite the five-man group that fueled last season’s historic midseason turnaround.

Injuries prevented Ham’s plan from ever coming to fruition. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were ruled out for the Boston game, while Vanderbilt suffered a non-contact injury to his foot in the closing seconds of the first half. The Lakers managed to come away with a bittersweet 9-point victory, albeit battered, bruised and in need of long-term answers in the starting lineup.

So, instead of trying to replicate last season’s turnaround, Ham opted to trot out the starting five that got LA to the Western Conference Finals. Insert Rui Hachimura.

The 6-foot-8 forward stepped up in big moments during the 2023 Playoffs, though that success hadn’t translated to the 2023-24 season. Hachimura started seven of the first 36 games he played and averaged 23.1 minutes of action in those appearances. Following a slew of injuries to other starters, the former Gonzaga standout had a chance to rekindle the fire in the Lakers for another run at the postseason.

Hachimura did exactly that. As a starter in the final 32 games of the regular season, he averaged 15.9 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 57.6% from the floor and 44.4% from downtown. LA went 22-10 in that span before officially punching its ticket to the playoffs with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament. 

By statistical measurements, Rui Hachimura’s fifth season was his most efficient and productive as a pro. He averaged 13.6 points (most since 2020-21) while shooting 53.7% from the field (career-best) and 42.2% from 3-point range (on 3.4 attempts per game, both career-highs). 

The postseason didn’t yield similar success, though. Hachimura failed to reach double-figures for scoring in four of the five games against the Denver Nuggets, who eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs on Monday night in a 108-106 final thanks to another clutch basket in the final seconds from Nuggets guard Jamal Murray.

With their season officially wrapped up, the Lakers head into an offseason that’ll center around the futures of James and Ham, both of whose long-term standing with the franchise will certainly play a role in Hachimura’s tenure in LA.

James, 39, didn’t address whether he’d be with the Lakers for his 22nd season in the NBA. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer can opt out of his two-year, $99 million contract he signed last offseason and become a free agent for the first time since 2018. If James wishes to remain a Laker, which he said as much during the All-Star Weekend in February, then he can either opt into his contract or opt-out and re-sign with LA on a three-year, $162 million deal (the most he can sign for with another team is three years, $157.5 million).

In the past, James made it public that he would like to play alongside his son Bronny James, who entered his name into the 2024 NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility in early April. After Game 5, The Athletic reported that the Lakers were open to selecting Bronny in the draft, though the eldest James said he hadn’t given much thought lately to the idea of playing on the same team as Bronny.

If James signs with another team in free agency or retires, the Lakers could look to hit the reset button by trading some of the current pieces on the roster. Any potential deal to get a star like Trae Young or Zach Levine would likely involve Hachimura, who signed a three-year, $51 million contract with LA last season. Should the Lakers push to acquire more firepower, they’ll need Hachimura’s large contract to match in any deal.

If James stays, he and Hachimura will have an opportunity to build off the chemistry they started to develop last offseason, when James claimed Hachimura as his “understudy” as the two spent most of the summer working out together.

“I was really appreciative of the time and the energy he spent with me,” Hachimura said after Game 5. “I learned a lot of stuff … he made me more confident.”

Despite visibly slimming down over the summer, Hachimura was relegated to a role off the bench in favor of Taurean Prince to start the season. The Athletic reported that Hachimura didn’t embrace being fully engaged defensively, boxing out and making the extra pass on offense like the coaching staff expected of him. That put the 26-year-old behind the eight ball out of the starting gate.

Which leads to the next point — if Ham is still the head coach of the Lakers next season and Hachimura isn’t traded, there’s no guarantee he’ll be in the starting lineup on opening day. Despite his performance in the 2023 playoffs, Hachimura was put down on the depth chart in favor of a Prince, who was on a one-year deal and was less of a scoring threat. Whether Prince re-signs this offseason or not, Hachimura likely will still have work to do in order to fully gain the coaching staff’s trust.

That said, Ham is "unlikely to return" to the Lakers according to NBA insider Shams Charania. In that event, Hachimura would have to adjust to his fourth head coach in six seasons as a pro.