Austin Reaves didn’t exactly hold back when asked about Rui Hachimura this week, but the jab came wrapped in praise.
With the Los Angeles Lakers set to open the 2026-27 season against the Golden State Warriors and then the Los Angeles Clippers, the second game will bring a familiar reunion. Hachimura will face the Lakers for the first time since leaving in free agency, and Reaves was asked about his former teammate at practice on Tuesday.
“He’s an unbelievable human,” Reaves said, via The Sporting Tribune. “I didn’t know if he spoke English for the first two weeks.
I sat by him on the plane. He didn’t speak to me, and then after that I couldn’t get him to shut up.
So, great guy, great player, and I miss him.”
Hachimura, who is from Japan, made a quiet first impression after joining the Lakers, at least from Reaves’ point of view. By the time Hachimura’s Lakers run was over, there was no mystery about that.
Los Angeles landed Hachimura from the Washington Wizards in January 2023 in a deal that sent Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks the other way. At the time, the move didn’t exactly set the fan base buzzing. Hachimura had shown promise, but he had mostly been steady rather than dazzling after Washington picked him No. 9 in the 2019 NBA Draft.
His early days with the Lakers were uneven, but he settled in and eventually became both a starter and a dependable piece of the rotation. Over his three full seasons with the team, he shot better than 40.0% from three every year and carved out a reputation as a reliable shooter.
Last season, Hachimura averaged 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.3 blocks while hitting 44.3% of his threes. It was a strong year, and it also doubled as the final season of the three-year, $51 million contract he signed with Los Angeles in 2023.
He was one of several Lakers headed for free agency in 2026, alongside Reaves, who was expected to decline his $14.9 million player option for 2026-27. That path changed in a hurry. The Lakers locked Reaves up on a four-year, $180 million contract before he could reach the market.
Reaves was the lone player Los Angeles brought back. The rest were allowed to walk.
Hachimura was told the Lakers would not be re-signing him, but he still stayed in Los Angeles. He agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with the Clippers that includes a $14 million team option for 2027-28. The Clippers wanted a sign-and-trade, but the Lakers declined to help make it happen.
Now Hachimura arrives at Friday’s matchup with plenty of momentum. In the preseason, he averaged 17.0 points per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 61.5% from beyond the arc. If he carries that kind of efficiency into the regular season, the Lakers would be wise not to give him daylight.
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Griffin said he was moving through his usual pregame routine when he went by Steve Ballmer and did not initially register the Clippers owners outstretched hand. The part that stayed with him came later, when his agent told him the organization had wanted a public handshake before tipoff, a detail that made the moment feel less like a sincere reunion and more like a staged bit of optics in a very public divorce. [Read more 🡒]