Silver lining overshadows disappointment from Rui Hachimura's early Olympic exit

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2024 Summer Olympics with ample reason to keep a close eye on the teams in Paris. Anthony Davis and LeBron James have taken on starring roles with Team USA, while Rui Hachimura has been the go-to player for Japan.

Hachimura is unfortunately exiting the Olympics early, but there's a silver lining for both himself and the Lakers to consider.

Hachimura made waves during his performances with Japan, showing out on both the exhibition and Olympic stages. He shot poorly in the Olympic opener, but tallied 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while consistently getting into the paint and drawing fouls against Germany.

The next time out, Hachimura was electric, going off to the tune of 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and a 3-of-5 mark from beyond the arc in a controversial 94-90 loss to France.

It was a stellar start to the international basketball season, which has become Hachimura's proverbial proving grounds since joining the Japanese team. He's been the team's most reliable source of offense, often showing out as a three-level scorer and three-point marksman.

Unfortunately, Hachimura was forced to leave the Olympics early with a calf injury that prevented him from meeting NBA and FIBA rules.

Per Kyle Hightower of The Associated Press:

""As my injury required early treatment, I was unfortunately unable to accompany the team in accordance with NBA/FIBA rules...I would like to thank all the spectators who supported me at the venue, basketball fans around the world, and all the fans in Japan. I think that together with my teammates, we played a very good game for Japanese basketball. I am proud to have been able to play as a member of Akatsuki Japan.""

It's a disappointing development, but it carries a silver lining for Hachimura and the Lakers heading into a crucial 2024-25 season.

Rui Hachimura suffers concerning injury, but has time to heal

Hachimura suffering a calf injury is a concerning sign no matter what time of year it is, but it's better to know about this issue in August than to find out about it in November. Depending on the severity of the injury, he could be back at 100 percent by opening night.

Even if the injury is still lingering near the beginning of the season, Hachimura should have put it behind him by the time December rolls around.

In addition to the recovery time aligning decently with the start of the NBA season, Hachimura should maintain perspective. In the exhibition games and Olympic encounters, he took on a massive offensive role for Japan and managed to excel against teams with NBA players.

Hachimura moved effectively without the ball, thus creating open jump shots and transition looks for himself, and was fearless when attacking the basket.

For the Lakers, the need for internal improvement is stronger than ever. They've failed to sign a single new player in free agency, LeBron James will turn 40 in December, and head coach JJ Redick is preparing for his first-ever season as a sideline leader.

A case could be made that no player needs to take a bigger step forward for the Lakers in 2024-25 than Hachimura.

The encouraging sign is that everything Hachimura did for Japan is consistent with what Los Angeles needs from him. If the 6'8" and 230-pounder is more aggressive on the drive, more active when working without the ball, and ideally more dialed in on defense, then the 2024-25 Lakers would be an entirely different team from the 2023-24 squad.

It's not exclusively on Hachimura to salvage this quiet offseason, but if there had to be an injury, at least it's come with enough time to recover and a strong enough sample size of performances to see what a potential Lakers starter is capable of doing in 2024-25.