Veteran forward Rui Hachimura has gone from a consistent starter to a sixth man for the Los Angeles Lakers, and he's making that transition better than expected.
Over the course of the 2025-26 NBA season, veteran forward Rui Hachimura has shifted from a consistent starter to the team's sixth man. A drastic change like this can go one of two ways: either Hachimura embraces it and finds a way to flourish, or resents it and eventually wants to leave the team because of it.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Hachimura has embraced the new role and is getting into a groove as head coach JJ Redick's most consistent player in the second unit.On Monday night, Hachimura had another solid game off the bench, as he finished with a, shooting 9-11 from the floor and 4-5 from beyond the arc. The 27-year-old was asked after the game what it has been like coming off the bench after starting 27 of the 35 games he's played during the 2025-26 campaign. “It's the same," Hachimura said of coming off the bench as opposed to being a starter. "I got to be more aggressive, when I come on, especially coming off the bench, I got to be more, especially with the second unit, I have to be, I get more touches. So, I got to be the guy that kind of involved in the offense. And I think that's what's working.” In eight games in a bench role, Hachimura is averaging 11.5 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from deep. Although those numbers are slightly down from his averages as a starter, he's putting them up in 23.7 minutes per game, down from 32.5, which is impressive.Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke about what he's seen from the bench as well as from Hachimura recently. “I think our bench was awesome. All those guys impacted the game in some way. Rui and Jaxson in particular were really good tonight, and Rui now feels like, I know he had the 4-for-13 game recently, but it feels like he's kind of back in his groove. He had not taken a ton of shots, and kind of I don't think was playing well, and I told him that, so I'm not trying to call him out. "He wasn't playing well leading into his injury, and then it takes a little bit of time to get back in that rhythm, and it feels like the last few games, he's back to who he was at the start of the year, and I think his defensive engagement, particularly the last two games, because in Dallas he had a great defensive game on tape as the low man, and again, another good one tonight.”The second-year head coach had some interesting thoughts about a player dealing with a role change in the NBA. Hachimura seems to be following the path of not caring whether he starts or comes off the bench. “It's encouraging. Just be a basketball player," Redick said. "You're not, nobody's going to care if you were a starter or came off the bench at the end of the season or at the end of your career. Just be a good basketball player, and he's a good basketball player. I know he, I don't know which one of you asked him about it, and Mitch was nice enough to share his comments with me in a three-series screenshot. So I know that he's in a great headspace with it, whatever it ends up being when we're fully healthy. He's playing great basketball, and his headspace is good, too.” With Hachimura playing on the last year of his contract with the Lakers, the Gonzaga product should be highly motivated during the second half of the season in order to prove his worth in terms of signing a long-term contract with the team or elsewhere in NBA free agency.Ryan Ward is an NBA journalist and a credentialed reporter with more than 15 years of experience covering the league and the Los Angeles Lakers. He has written for ClutchPoints, Lakers Nation, Heavy, Rotowire and EssentiallySports. Ryan also produces a podcast and video content focused on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA at large.
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