The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to stay healthy during the 2025-26 season and the hits keep on coming as Rui Hachimura is the latest player to land on the injury report.
Hachimura was ruled out for the Lakers’ game against the Detroit Pistons due to a calf injury. Hachimura joined Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves, who were also unavailable due to back and calf injuries, respectively.
Hachimura looked fine physically in Los Angeles’ win against the Sacramento Kings as he played 26 minutes and scored 12 points. However, it appears the team was concerned enough with his sore calf that they decided to give him some rest.
Head coach JJ Redick offered a positive update regarding Hachimura’s injury, though, as he said the expectation is for him to return at some point next week.
“He’ll be sort of out a week. That’s kind of the target. And that’s from whenever, two days ago, from the game. He’ll miss a couple games and then we’ll get him ramped up and hopefully he’s playing in the next week,” Redick said before Tuesday’s loss to the Pistons.
Hachimura only missing a couple of games would be ideal as Los Angeles has largely struggled being undermanned. He hasn’t been spectacular by any means this year but his absence highlights the lack of frontcourt depth on the roster.
At his best, Hachimura is able to knock down open 3-pointers and create his own shot in a pinch, while defensively he can take power forwards or smaller centers. While he might not excel defensively or offer much in terms of offensive playmaking, Hachimura is a solid rotation player that allows L.A. some versatility.
In his place, Redick will likely lean on the likes of Jarred Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia to fill in while Hachimura is out. LaRavia earned the nod in the starting lineup against Detroit and performed admirably in Hachimura’s spot. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt provided his usual burst of energy on both sides of the floor.
When Hachimura returns, the Lakers as a whole will need to figure out how to be better as a group especially on the defensive end.
Rui Hachimura confident Lakers can turn things around
The Lakers have started to fall back down to Earth after a strong start to the regular season. While the basketball hasn’t always been pretty, Rui Hachimura remains confident that they can turn things around.
Hachimura explained that his years in the league have shown him dips are inevitable and that Los Angeles needs to go back to playing the right way on both ends.
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