Rui Hachimura has made a compelling case as a playoff rotation player

The Lakers won a championship with an identity built on athleticism, defense and size. Rui Hachimura should be a key part of that playing style heading into these playoffs.

With so much focus going to the players received in the Russell Westbrook trade, Rui Hachimura has flown under the radar. He was traded for well before an insane trade deadline. No first round picks were involved. He’s even received DNP-CDs as Darvin Ham has focused on shooting and perimeter skill.

Then, with the season on the line, Ham turned to Hachimura against a bigger playoff team and the Lakers suffocated the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half. That win provided a glimpse into what the Lakers’ identity should be in the play-in and eventually, the playoffs — with Hachimura playing a key role.

Let’s start with Hachimura and what he brings to the table.

For one thing, at his position, he’s huge. He stands at 6’8” 230 pounds and, just as importantly as his size, itself, he knows how to use it. Given some of the players the Lakers might face at his position (Kevin Durant, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Brandon Ingram, to name a few), that size and physicality will be necessities.

Hachimura’s defense when he got to the Lakers was a project, to say the least. But over the last couple months, his attentiveness off the ball has started to match his on-ball defensive tools. As a result, the Lakers give up fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the court than any other rotation player.

Yes, team defensive rating with individual players is a flawed approach, but 650 minutes also isn’t the smallest sample size and given he’s spent a lot of time with bench units, it’s actually a pretty impressive feat.

Offensively, Rui is obviously kind of a clunky fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis because of his inconsistent shooting from deep (32%) and his tendency to take an extra dribble here and there, but he has worked well as a safety valve with the second unit. He’s also pretty underrated at the rim, where he’s shooting a shade under 74% (again, he’s a big dude and knows how to use that size).

So, where should the minutes come from and what type of role should he play?

As I’ve written before, the Lakers actually have options here. We couldn’t say that in the all-too-recent past. Essentially, it’s going to come down to Hachimura getting minutes that would otherwise go to Malik Beasley or Troy Brown. This is where Ham will likely have to decide on the team’s identity.

There are certainly multiple ways to win a championship, but most recently, we saw the Lakers do so with a “bigger, stronger, faster” identity. They got after it defensively and parlayed stops into transition buckets. As currently constructed, the Lakers have far more weapons in the half court with their starting lineup, so this isn’t apples to apples. But the second half of Minnesota felt a lot like that title team and, sorry, but I can’t quite get it out of my head.

Shouts to my dude Raj for feeling the same way:

Raj C. @RajChipalu

For fellow sickos. 10 minute video break down of the monster second half last night. On the contributions off the bench, and Anthony Davis dominating the fourth.

youtube.comHow the Lakers came back to beat Minnesota on the road. Second half video breakdown.The Los Angeles Lakers roared back from a double digit halftime deficit, to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road. Succeeding from the defense of their...

On one hand, when Beasley and/or Brown have it going, the Lakers are basically impossible to stop from scoring. Someone is going to be open and if the ball finds a hot shooter, the Lakers are capable of execution we didn’t even see from the title team.

On the other, we’ve seen far too many games where both Beasley and Brown don’t have it going and the Lakers aren’t good enough defensively with those guys to make up for the missed wide open looks.

Defense is far more predictable than shooting when you’re relying on unproven weapons like Beasley and Brown. Combine that concern with their matchups as they stand right now and Hachimura really makes the most sense here.

If the play-in/playoffs started right now, they’d face New Orleans (Ingram) in the first play-in game. If they won that, they’d see Memphis in the first round. Memphis doesn’t have a wing as dangerous as Ingram, but they can play physically with guys like Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr. up front and Dillon Brooks perpetually looking to fight people. If they win that series, they’d get the winner of Sacramento (who you don’t want to simply try to outscore) and the Clippers (who have George and Leonard on the wing).

And if the Lakers manage come out on top in that series, they'd see the winner of Denver and Phoenix in the Conference Finals (so either Michael Porter Jr. or that Durant guy), followed by whoever comes out of the east in the finals, where they’d probably either see Philly’s huge frontline, Boston’s pair of elite wings or, you know, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Asking Vanderbilt to handle those matchups on his own would be pretty ludicrous, even if James and Davis might spend some time on elite wings when the Lakers want to break up their rhythm.

There are obviously several ways to win a championship and the Lakers will eventually need the spacing that Beasley and/or Brown can provide, but I’m also partial to how we saw them win a championship with James and Davis before. The concept is right there, and Hachimura fits right in with that identity. A frontline of James, Davis, Vanderbilt, Hachimura and, in spots, Gabriel, is pretty enticing. All those guys are physical, switchable defensively, get out and run, and understand their roles on offense. That kind of predictability is exactly what you need from role players in the postseason.

Hachimura may not have been as flashy an acquisition as D’Angelo Russell, Beasley and Vanderbilt. His game might not pop the way Beasley’s does when he’s hitting six or seven threes. But Hachimura is the exact type of big, skilled wing whose game translates directly to the increased physicality we see in the playoffs. Some of Ham’s choices might be forced by matchup, but one thing is for sure, Hachimura’s days of getting DNP-CDs better be behind him.