Rui Hachimura was one of the Lakers' best role players during last season's Western Conference Finals run. He's brought that same production to start this season. So why isn't he playing more?
Hachimura is averaging a career-low 20.6 minutes per game, the ninth-most on the roster, despite being the second-best per-minute scorer on the team behind only LeBron James. He did not enter the game during the competitive portion of the fourth quarter in the team's loss to the Kings on Wednesday, and his minutes have been all over the place for the whole year.
With a 6-6 record, the Lakers haven't been playing up to their potential this season. They need to make changes to an offense that is ranked 20th in the league.
Here's why they should be looking to Hachimura to provide some of that lift.
MORE: Explaining Lakers' decision to move Austin Reaves to the bench
Why the Lakers need to play Rui Hachimura more
Rui Hachimura can help lessen the load on LeBron James
James has had to play way too many minutes this season to keep the Lakers afloat. His 33.9 minutes per game is second on the team behind Anthony Davis. That high load is largely because the Lakers have fallen apart when he is on the bench. Per NBA.com, they are outscoring teams by 6.3 points per 100 possessions with him on the court and getting outscored by 16.6 points per 100 possessions when he sits.
Hachimura can help those LeBron-free bench units survive. He's been instant offense when he's on the floor, averaging 22.3 points per 36 minutes. He's a great isolation player who can get a shot up whenever he wants, whether it's bodying bigger players like the Grizzlies' David Roddy into the lane for layups or getting to his midrange shot, where he has been solid throughout his career.
If teams try to guard him one-on-one, then they have very little chance of stopping him. He's developed a great first step to use in combination with his power moves when he gets going on his drives.
Head coach Darvin Ham has experimented a bit with playing through Hachimura when James is off the floor. Hachimura closed the last 14:30 of the team's blowout win against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, playing the entirety of that stretch without James. He was dominant in that stint, scoring a team-high 12 points on 71.4 percent shooting from the field.
Hachimura has been fantastic as a cutter and floor spacer, but he is capable of taking on a bigger chunk of offensive responsibilities. He should get more opportunities to be the guy, allowing James to rest more throughout a long regular season.
Rui Hachimura's defense has been solid this season
Hachimura has never been known as a fantastic defender, but he's been holding his own this season. His help defense — always a problem area — has been better. He sacrificed his body on Wednesday, drawing a charge on Domantas Sabonis midway through the second quarter.
Hachimura has also been very active in the passing lanes. His 1.1 steals per game are the highest of his career and his steal percentage, an estimate of how many possessions end in a steal, is the second-highest on the Lakers behind Cam Reddish.
Hachimura's one-on-one defense has been good, too. He's been more versatile than expected, blocking quicker players like the Rockets' Aaron Holiday on switches or withstanding powerful bumps from bigger players like the Nuggets' Aaron Gordon.
Make no mistake, Hachimura is going to be on the floor mostly for his offense. But his defense, once considered a liability, hasn't been an issue.
Rui Hachimura gives the Lakers much-needed shooting
Hachimura was on fire in the playoffs, hitting 48.7 percent of his 3s. There was a lot of doubt about how sustainable that shooting was given his career 34.7 percent average entering this season.
Hachimura has been proving that his shooting improvement may indeed be for real, hitting 50.0 percent of his 3s through his first eight games. For a Lakers team that is 29th in 3-point attempts and 23rd in percentage, that shooting is desperately needed.
Hachimura has had a ton of confidence in that shot, letting it fly even when heavily contested. He's shown that he can provide value when he doesn't have the ball in his hands by punishing aggressive help defense.
Hachimura would be in the top five in 3-point percentage if he had enough attempts to qualify for the leaderboards. And his shooting is only a small part of what he is bringing to the table.
The Lakers simply need to find more minutes for Hachimura. In his five games since returning from his ankle injury, he's hit 64.4 percent of his shots and scored 15.6 points in only 24.1 minutes per game. There's not much else to do to prove that he is deserving of more time — he's flat-out earned a bigger spot in the rotation.
