{"id":762256,"date":"2026-06-16T06:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/762256\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T06:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:09:17","slug":"lakers-free-agent-linked-to-spurs-by-insider-after-nba-finals-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/762256\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Free Agent Linked to Spurs by Insider After NBA Finals Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Lakers,\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball against De’aaron Fox #4 of the San Antonio Spurs in the first half at Crypto.com Arena on February 10, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. <\/p>\n

The San Antonio Spurs<\/a> have emerged as a potential destination for Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> free agent Rui Hachimura.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Bobby Marks explained why the Spurs, following their NBA Finals loss to the New York Knicks<\/a>, pose a legitimate threat to the Lakers to pry Hachimura away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spurs have the flexibility to go out and do some free-agency shopping,\u201d Marks told ESPN\u2019s \u201cNBA Today\u201d<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at the playoffs, they need a combo big man who can complement Victor [Wembanyama],\u201d Marks said of the Spurs. \u201cWhen you look at a stretch 4, a player like Rui Hachimura from the Lakers \u2014 you pair him up with a big who can shoot.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless, the Spurs are set up really nicely for the future,\u201d added Marks.<\/p>\n

Spurs Need More Shooting<\/p>\n

Further to Marks\u2019 point, the Spurs ranked fourth in 3PM (12.8) and 3P% (.357) during the playoffs, and struggled mightily in the NBA<\/a> Finals, when they shot 33.9% from distance against a Knicks team that shot nearly 37% from long range. Ultimately, many insiders felt New York\u2019s ability to drain shots more consistently cost the Spurs.<\/p>\n

Hachimura, one of the NBA\u2019s best marksmen, could help them in that category. Last season, the Japanese-American player shot a career-high 44.3% from three \u2014 ranking fifth in the league among players who attempted at least 3.9 threes per game. In the playoffs, he was even more lethal, as he drained 3.3 threes at an NBA-best clip of 56.9%.<\/a> Along the way, he set some new all-time playoff benchmarks for the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Lakers Keen to Retain Hachimura<\/p>\n

The Lakers \u2014 who have a lot of cap flexibility of their own \u2014 prefer to retain Hachimura rather than let the 3-and-D wing join a team like the Spurs in free agency.<\/p>\n

According to The Athletic\u2019s Dan Woike<\/a>, the Lakers would like to retain both Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes to continue building a core around Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe belief is that Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes are players the Lakers would prioritize bringing back as they try to best fit a roster around Don\u010di\u0107. And each piece of the puzzle the Lakers feel they need to add into their cap space takes up a slice that could go to James,\u201d Woike wrote on Monday.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that Marks isn\u2019t the first insider or insider to link Lakers free agent Hachimura to the Spurs.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

So, what could Hachimura cost the Spurs on the open market? According to Bobby Marks, Hachimura\u2019s projected value is around $15-$16M per season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHachimura is the only player in Lakers history to have three straight seasons of at least 40% shooting from 3 on at least 150 attempts,\u201d Marks wrote on May 22. \u201cThis season, he ranked fifth in the league in 3-point percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd although his scoring dipped from 13.1 points to 11.5 this season, Hachimura shot 51.4% from the field. He and Kevin Durant<\/a> are the only two players to shoot 50% from the field and 40% from 3 in each of the past three seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Hachimura and Hayes, the Lakers will have to deal with the free agency of LeBron James, Austin Reaves<\/a> and Luke Kennard over the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Marcus Smart<\/a> and Deandre Ayton have player options for next season.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball against De’aaron Fox #4 of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,6,969,474,4075,4074,534],"class_list":["post-762256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio-spurs","tag-basketball","tag-nba","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-sanantonio","tag-sanantoniospurs","tag-spurs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116758299727718652","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762256","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=762256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}