Rui Hachimura leaving Lakers for $28M deal with Clippers

The Lakers are losing one of their main forwards to their crosstown rival. 

Rui Hachimura will sign with the Clippers in free agency, adding to the long list of players who have departed the Lakers as part of their roster reconstruction.

Hachimura agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with the Clippers, ESPN first reported. 

There’s a team option for the second year. 

The report added that Hachimira and camp came to an understanding with the Clippers early in free agency and waited for the Lakers’ offseason moves to take place before pursuing a sign-and-trade, but that didn’t come to fruition, with Hachimura agreeing to a deal without the Lakers’ involvement.

Hachimura addressed his departure from the Lakers on Instagram.

“Thank you Lakers Nation for the past three years,” he said. “We had some great moments and I will always remember the memories we made together.”

Hachimura joined LeBron James (next team to be determined), Deandre Ayton (Wizards), Marcus Smart (Rockets), Luke Kennard (Suns) and Jaxson Hayes (Jazz) as players from the Lakers’ 2025-26 squad who’ll be on another team next season.

The players the Lakers are adding: Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million), Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million), Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million) and Jaden Hardy (two years, $12 million). 

That’s in addition to re-signing Austin Reaves (four years, $185 million) and selecting Cameron Carr with the No. 24 pick of the draft and signing him to his rookie scale contract (four years, $16.8 million) on Thursday. 

The Lakers relinquished Hachimura’s cap hold and the free agency rights that would’ve allowed them to go over the salary cap to re-sign him to make their additions. 

Hachimura’s return to the Lakers after 3 ½ seasons with the franchise was viewed as “unlikely”, a source told the California Post over the weekend, but it wasn’t clear where he would play next. 

But the 6-foot-8 forward will get to stay in his preferred destination of L.A. with the move to the Clippers. 

Hachimura averaged 12.3 points (51.6% shooting) and 4.3 rebounds in his 228 regular season games (146 starts) with the Lakers after they acquired him from the Wizards in February 2023 for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks. 

He significantly improved his 3-point shooting, making 41.5% of his 3s during his Lakers tenure after shooting 35.6% on 3s with the Wizards. 

Hachimura, who was the No. 8 pick in the 2018 draft, shot 44.3% on 3s during 2025-26, which was the league’s fifth-best mark. 

He consistently stepped up during the postseason, averaging 13.4 points on 52.6% shooting (50.7% on 3s) in 36 playoff games with the Lakers. 

Hachimura averaged a career-high 17.5 points (54.9% shooting, 56.9% on 3s) and 4 rebounds in the Lakers’ 10 playoff games this past spring. 

With Hachimura’s departure, the Lakers will lose every starter who helped them take a 3-0 lead in their first round playoff series against the Rockets: James, Ayton, Smart, Kennard and Hachimura.

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