How can you not love NBA preseason? Despite the games not mattering for anything from a winning perspective, one good performance from a former player will invite belief over how the sky is falling for his old team. That is where Rui Hachimura and the Los Angeles Lakers enter the picture.
Hachimura led the Los Angeles Clippers in scoring during his new team's 104-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. Rui poured in 21 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, in just 15 minutes. Someone dropped to their knees in a Walmart over that.
There were a portion of Lakers fans who flooded the internet to profess their disdain over the franchise letting Hachimura walk away. In all fairness, you can certainly entertain dialogue over whether Rob Pelinka should have kept Rui around.
Basing that conversation off preseason basketball? Come on now.
Rui Hachimura's high-scoring preseason debut changes nothing for the Lakers
Apparently, it is a revelation to some that Hachimura can score the basketball. Go figure that Rui would be able to do that against the less dialed-in defenses that you will see in the preseason. Effort is not exactly a selling point for players in these games unless you are fighting for roster spots.
Nothing about that 21-point game in the preseason furthers the agenda of whether the Lakers should feel regret over letting Rui walk. Looking back to a historic postseason run would be a better discussion. Sunday was a can of nothing.
The Lakers knew the value Hachimura brings as a shooter when they moved on. It was the other areas which invited Los Angeles to think they were better off without him. Poor rebounding, inconsistent defense, lapses in decision-making: the flaws were there.
Toss money into the equation here and it is understandable why the Lakers rolled the dice on trying out something new instead of going back to Rui. That phrasing is key. This is still a gamble for Pelinka.
Hachimura's upside in an offense with Luka Doncic is obvious. Rui could spread the floor for Luka tremendously. However, his comments since switching over to the other Los Angeles team indicated discontent with simply being a catch-and-shoot player. He wanted more from his role.
If JJ Redick could not envision upscaling Hachimura in a post-LeBron James offense for the Lakers, there was no sense in a reunion. Perhaps the third-year coach did not believe Rui fit the shift in schemes. Whatever the case, the franchise made their bed.
All of these aspects are important to keep in mind when evaluating what led to Hachimura and the Lakers heading in their own separate directions. A hot shooting night against the Warriors in preseason does not factor in on that conversation.
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