Rui Hachimura has agreed to a two-year, $28 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, as the sharpshooting power forward — one of the top players at his position in the 2026 free-agent class — lands a lucrative new deal.
Charania reported that the two sides attempted to pursue a sign-and-trade with the Lakers, but the Lakers did not cooperate on a deal.
Drafted by the Washington Wizards ninth overall in 2019, Hachimura joined the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade midway through the 2022-23 season and turned into one of their most productive players over the ensuing years — a pitch-perfect role-playing big wing capable of comfortably slotting in alongside stars like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves thanks to his combination of size and knockdown perimeter shooting.
Hachimura, 28, has made more than 40% of his 3-pointers in each of the last three seasons. Most of those launches have come while stationed off the ball, awaiting a kickout from a teammate: Hachimura is one of just 26 players in the NBA last season to make at least 100 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and to knock down at least 40% of those looks, and one of just nine players to do it in each of the last two seasons (AJ Green, Isaiah Joe, Kevin Durant, Max Christie, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Payton Pritchard, Royce O’Neale, Trey Murphy III).
The former Gonzaga standout has developed into one of the most efficient complementary offensive pieces in the league, ranking in the 80th percentile or better in spot-up scoring efficiency three years running, according to Synergy. He’s not solely a standstill shooter, though, with the speed to fill the lane in transition, the touch to knock down pull-up jumpers in the midrange when the defense gives it up and the athleticism to drive a closeout and finish at the rim.
He also basically never turns the ball over. Among 199 players who’ve logged at least 5,000 minutes over the last four seasons, Hachimura owns the sixth-lowest turnover rate, coughing it up on just 6.7% of his offensive plays. (Of course, a low turnover rate is par for the course when you’re also one of the lowest assist players in the league, but still: if you’re paid to finish possessions with a shot attempt, it’s best not to end them with a miscue.)
Hachimura has largely held up in the postseason, too. He shot the lights out in the Lakers’ opening-round win over the Memphis Grizzlies in 2023, helping fuel L.A.’s run to the Western Conference finals. He was one of the only players that JJ Redick felt he could trust against the Timberwolves in the first round in 2025 (which might have said more about the state of the Lakers’ roster than anything else, but still).
And with Dončić shelved and Reaves limited, Hachimura was a flamethrower in the 2026 playoffs, averaging 17.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 55% from the field and 57% from 3-point range as the Lakers outdueled the Houston Rockets before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
Hachimura isn’t a high-end playmaker, one-on-one shot creator or defender, but he is a big, physical forward who can slide across frontcourt positions with a proven track record of being able to reliably knock down shots in the playoffs. Players like that have value around the league; now, we know just how much.
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