Rui Hachimura has become a fan favorite in Lakers circles since his strong stretches with the team, but reality may be setting in. The Lakers might not be able to go much further with Hachimura, as his lack of defense and rebounding continues to cost the team valuable minutes.
Bench him? Probably not. Trade season can be unforgiving, but that is the nature of the league. With the Lakers needing a defensive wing to better surround Luka Doncic, they may have to put some of their best trade pieces on the table to address that need.
In that context, The Athletic’s Dan Woike has proposed a trade that could help solve the issue. The framework would send Hachimura, along with guard Gabe Vincent, to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu.
“An issue that comes up in many of my conversations is the Lakers’ future cap space. In a trade like this, that would be the primary issue,” wrote Woike. “Williams looks like a 3-and-D wing, but he doesn’t play like one. He spends more time guarding bigs because of his lack of foot speed, and he shoots too infrequently to stretch defenses on the perimeter. He is also under contract for three more seasons.
“Dosunmu has some of the skills that would really help the Lakers, but as an unrestricted free agent, he’s going to be looking for a raise in the mid-level exception range. And while this proposal would have no draft capital going out, a lot of other potential deals for Dosunmu do.”
