LOS ANGELES — Forward Rui Hachimura insisted he has not given any thought to his upcoming free agency following the Los Angeles Lakers’ postseason elimination.
Speaking to reporters after Los Angeles was knocked out of the 2026 playoffs, the 28-year-old said his focus during the year remained solely on basketball.
“I haven’t thought about it at all. I didn’t talk to my agent. I haven’t talked to my people at all about free agency,” Hachimura said. “I was just trying to play, get through the season, make the playoffs and try to win the series.”
Hachimura’s late-season surge, highlighted by standout three-point shooting while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were sidelined, helped the Lakers upset the Houston Rockets in the first round. The performance is expected to draw interest from rival teams when he becomes an unrestricted free agent on June 30.
Although the Lakers have held extension rights on Hachimura throughout the season, they have not reached a new agreement. The club can still negotiate until the start of free agency. General manager Rob Pelinka faces a summer in which as many as eight Lakers could hit the open market.
Hachimura expressed appreciation for the organization, praising executive vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, governor Jeanie Buss, and new owner Mark Buss. “I love this team, I love this organization since I got here,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I’m not the one negotiating. I put everything on my agents.”
The forward’s postseason also drew compliments from former Gonzaga standout Chet Holmgren, who coined a nickname for Hachimura before the Lakers met the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Hachimura responded with strong performances in the four-game series against the defending champions.
Los Angeles must now decide whether to secure Hachimura before free agency opens or risk losing one of its most reliable playoff contributors—and a key source of perimeter shooting—to the open market.
Source: LakersNation.com
