After a postseason in which he played the majority of his minutes around the rim against the Wolves, Rui Hachimura really wants the Lakers to sign a center.
While the playoffs were an overall disappointment for the Lakers, one of the bright spots was Rui Hachimura. The forward stepped up to the plate and played well in the series despite being tasked with often defending Rudy Gobert in the paint.
With the Lakers relegated to exclusively small ball lineups, Hachimura, along with LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith, were tasked with battling on the boards and doing so unsuccessfully. That wasn’t a result of a lack of effort but a lack of ability.
After the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Wolves in which Rudy Gobert dominated, Rui Hachimura spoke about the need for a center and rebounder during his exit interview, where he made it clear that he thought the team needed to make an addition.
“We need somebody to get rebounds,” Hachimura said. “I got to be one of them, of course. I can’t just be face-to-face boxing out Gobert the whole game. I can’t get a rebound. That’s the whole thing. He’s 7’2” [with a] 7’5” wingspan, whatever. He’s a big man.
“The problem was, I think because we tried to help on Gobert, put two guys on him and the other guys were diving into offensive rebounds and it’s easy…So I think that was the game for us.”
You can understand Rui’s frustration. It was clear coming into the playoffs that the Lakers needed a center, but Minnesota fully exposed that weakness.
Jaxson Hayes proved fairly quickly in the series that he was not going to be able to stay on the floor. Head coach JJ Redick clearly did not have a great deal of trust in him and whatever was left fully evaporated with Hayes’ technical in the first quarter of Game 4.
That then left the Lakers without a playable center, forcing guys like Rui to step up. But, ultimately, no matter what they did or how hard they tried, you can’t overcome the size difference that was glaringly evident in Game 5.
“The coaches trust me to put me in that situation,” Hachimura said. “I try to fight through that, but there’s a limit to it. Like I said, that’s all I can do is literally facing up [Gobert] and maybe I can tap [the ball]. I can’t just go get rebounds like that. So it’s tough, but that was our team situation this year and it is what it is.”
Hachimura sounds like someone who had understood that he was put in a no-win position, but also the team had no other solution. It’s a byproduct of trading a center for a point guard midseason.
They had an excuse during the season, but that will no longer be the case after this offseason. During his own exit interview, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka sounded like someone determined to find a solution to their lack of frontcourt options during the offseason.
Hopefully for the sake of the Lakers, and Rui, they find more than adequate solutions. Because I’d prefer not to give up another 20-20 game to Gobert ever again.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.