DALLAS \u2013 Rui Hachimura understands the job.<\/p>\n
As he studied the postgame catering Saturday in Dallas, Hachimura didn\u2019t hesitate to answer what could be one of the most pressing questions facing the Lakers and the coaching staff.<\/p>\n
With Austin Reaves set to return from a calf injury as soon as this week, Lakers coach JJ Redick will be faced with the decision whether or not to return Hachimura to the starting lineup. And if the Lakers decided they\u2019d fare better with more defensive-minded players like Jake LaRavia or Marcus Smart with the first five, wouldn\u2019t they risk losing Hachimura\u2019s buy-in as he heads towards unrestricted free agency?<\/p>\n
Maybe a few years ago, the Lakers forward would\u2019ve felt differently. But now? He laughed when he was asked if he was willing to remain in the second unit.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people think about stats and all that, but for me it\u2019s like winning. That\u2019s gonna help us to everybody get paid,\u201d Hachimura told The Athletic. \u201c\u2026 And especially with this second unit, I get more touches too. \u2026 I don\u2019t mind. It\u2019s more so like, who\u2019s finishing the game? Or who\u2019s playing more? For me, that\u2019s more important.\u201d<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t faux-amiability \u2013 this was a player fully comfortable in his skin and his station on this basketball team. And this was a player who\u2019d just gotten another chance to show why he\u2019s a long-term fit for what the Lakers are building.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s easy\u201d JJ Redick said of Hachimura. \u201cHe comes in. He gets his work in. He bangs shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Redick said he\u2019s not ready to make any full decisions about his starting five \u2013 Saturday was the first game Hachimura played without a minutes restriction since he came back from a calf injury on Jan. 13. His seven-game stint coming off the bench marks his longest stretch in a reserve role since early in the 2023-24 season, before he became a starter.<\/p>\n
On Saturday against the Mavericks, Hachimura hit back-to-back 3s (including one where he was fouled and made a free throw), the game\u2019s two biggest shots. And like he did earlier this season in Toronto, he stepped up and made the jumpers despite not being a major part of the offense.<\/p>\n
In the build-up to those shots, Hachimura mostly stood and waited on offense, his hands up anticipating passes that don\u2019t always come. But Hachimura\u2019s gotten better at finding other ways to still feel the game. Against the Mavericks, he blocked a shot, corralled multiple loose balls and grabbed rebounds in the fourth \u2013 all before he hit his first 3 in the quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny. I think I got used to it. It\u2019s four years here, and [the] first three years I was, I didn\u2019t know what to do,\u201d Hachimura said. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t touch the ball for like whole quarter, like, it\u2019s done for me. I can\u2019t do anything for the game, but now I\u2019m used to it. I think it\u2019s more so the mental. When I had that always I used to think \u2018Oh f\u2014. Like I couldn\u2019t shoot. I didn\u2019t touch the ball.\u2019 But now, I\u2019m trying to think \u2018OK, what I can do to help to win this game? Rebound, box out, help defense. Those are little movements that\u2019s gonna keep me into the game. So then, when I get to the ball, I\u2019m still in rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ability to play without the ball is a must in a star-driven offense. It\u2019s one, if not the single biggest, reason Hachimura is so valuable to the Lakers as the team heads into the trade deadline in early February.<\/p>\n
His evolution as a role player has been a slow burn since the Lakers acquired him for a package of second-round picks at the trade deadline in 2023. He credited former Lakers assistant Phil Handy for helping him bend his game around the Lakers\u2019 stars: first LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and now, around James, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves.<\/p>\n
Hachimura is on his way to his third-straight season with the Lakers where he\u2019s made at least 40 percent of his 3s. He\u2019s a \u201claser,\u201d per his coach, and is a top-15 shooter from deep this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like my role here,\u201d he said. \u201cThe things that I like to do, I\u2019m doing here. I just gotta embrace doing whatever it takes to win for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2013 Rui Hachimura understands the job. As he studied the postgame catering Saturday in Dallas, Hachimura didn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":["post-561786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-lakers","tag-basketball","tag-la","tag-la-lakers","tag-lakers","tag-lalakers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleslakers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115961254945042423","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}