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The Washington Wizards traded forward Rui Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package of draft picks, multiple people familiar with the deal said Monday.
The Lakers will send three future second-round picks and guard Kendrick Nunn to Washington for Hachimura. The picks include a 2023 pick via Chicago, the Lakers’ own pick in 2029, and which is the worst second round pick between the Wizards and Lakers in 2028.
Hachimura, 24, said Saturday he had “no comment” on recent trade speculation and that he “just wants[ed] to be somewhere that wants me as a basketball player.”
Hachimura did not practice with the Wizards on Monday due to an excused personal absence, coach Wes Unseld Jr. said.
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Hachimura, a 2019 lottery pick, has struggled to fully blossom in his four seasons with the Wizards. After missing almost half of last season due to personal leave, this season Hachimura was moved to the bench. He is averaging 13 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 24.3 minutes per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from deep.
The Wizards and Hachimura did not reach an agreement on a contract extension before the deadline last October. ESPN and The Athletic first reported the Hachimura trade.
The Lakers, seeded 12th in the West entering Monday, are eyeing trades throughout the season after star forward LeBron James criticized the team’s roster structure on opening night. With the Hachimura deal, the Lakers were able to add a rotation player without sacrificing one of their two remaining future first-round picks, which could have been used to make additional deals before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
Hachimura would fill a clear need for Los Angeles, which has been looking for size and athleticism on the wing all season. The team has been forced to use undersized lineups with star center Anthony Davis sidelined with a leg injury, and recent injuries to Lonnie Walker IV and Austin Reaves have thinned their perimeter.
Hachimura’s defense has been his weak point throughout his career, but his 6-foot-8, 230-pound frame offers a tantalizing combination of versatility and physicality.
If he does well with the change of scenery, the Lakers can make him a restricted free agent by extending him a qualifying offer this summer.
For the Wizards (20-26), the move addresses overcrowding at the power forward position as the team sits in 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Unseld’s preferred lineup features Daniel Gafford at center and Kristaps Porzingis at forward, leaving Hachimura and third-year forward Denny Avdia, a 2020 lottery pick, to compete for minutes off the bench.
Rather than risk losing Hachimura for nothing in free agency, Washington reacquired the draft assets without taking on additional future salary — key for the organization as it faces questions about whether it can keep two high-priced core players after this season in the face of Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma.
Kuzma said earlier this season that he would not sign an extension with the Wizards and has become a player of interest to many teams as the Feb. 9 trade deadline approaches, though Washington has signaled that it intends to keep its third leading scorer, according to many around the league.
Porzingis can exercise a $36 million player option or become an unrestricted free agent. Complicating matters is that Bradley Beal will make $46.7 million next season in the second year of his five-year max contract. Keeping all three players would force Washington to pay the luxury tax, which owner Ted Leonsis has done just once since taking over the franchise in 2010.
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But finding a new home for Hachimura crossed one item off Washington’s to-do list.
The Wizards and Lakers are no strangers to trade partners, having previously agreed to a deal in 2021 that sent Russell Westbrook to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Hachimura would be reunited with several former Wizards teammates, including Westbrook, with whom he developed a close relationship in Washington, Thomas Bryant and Troy Brown Jr.
Nunn, 27, never found a consistent and productive role with the Lakers this season after missing the 2021-22 campaign with a knee injury. The scoring-minded guard is averaging 6.7 points while shooting just 40.6 percent overall and 32.5 percent from deep in 39 appearances. He is in the final year of a two-year, $10.3 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
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