One player has shined the brightest on the NBA playoff stage, and his name is not LeBron James, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić or Austin Reaves. 

It’s Rui Hachimura. 

Playing on a court with superstars, future Hall of Famers and generational icons, Hachimura has been the best player in the Western Conference semifinal series between the Lakers and Thunder. 

“He’s a talented guy. He plays like a Japanese [Michael] Jordan,” said Thunder center Chet Holmgren of Hachimura. “He can really make shots and make shots in bunches. You can’t let him get hot.”

Holmgren was complimentary of Hachimura because both played at Gonzaga, but his analysis still rings true. You can’t let him get hot, and right now in this series Hachimura is scorching.

He’s shooting a blistering 58% from 3-point range in the postseason. He’s averaging 18.3 points in this series. To drag Hachimura’s career postseason 3-point percentage below 40, he’d have to miss 46 straight 3s. All this as a quiet, corner-dwelling forward whose job description is that of a role player and not a headliner. 

And yet, through three lopsided losses, he’s been the most consistent Laker on the court and one of the few players who has kept them in games before everything eventually unravels. 

What makes Hachimura’s performance this postseason even more remarkable is that he’s doing it all without the ball in his hands. LeBron and Reaves are the Lakers’ primary ball handlers. Heck, even Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard handle the ball at times. 

But there are no play calls for Hachimura. No high pick-and-rolls. No offense built around him. No 3-pointers off a perimeter screen or dribble penetration. Just patience and timing. Hachimura waits for the pass that may or may not come, but he delivers when it does.

“Rui has been shooting lights out and has been playing really well for us,” Kennard said after Game 3, in which not much else went right for the Lakers. 

Game 3, when the Lakers’ backs were against a wall, should have been a night when LA pushed back against the defending champs and won its first game of this series. Instead, it became yet another reminder of the large gap between these teams. Especially without Dončić.

Even as Hachimura led the Lakers with a team-high 21 points and knocked down five 3s, the Lakers still got steamrolled by the Thunder, 131-108. One stat in particular was even more shocking. In their eight playoff games entering Saturday, every time the Lakers outshot their opponent from the perimeter, they won the game. Game 3 was the first time they outshot OKC in the series, and they still got run out of the building. 

That tells you everything you need to know about this matchup. 

As we’ve been telling you all along, the Thunder are just better. They’re operating on a different plane of existence than the Lakers now. OKC has won all three games by an average of nearly 20 points; that’s the worst playoff point differential in Lakers’ franchise history. 

The fact that Hachimura has been able to stay this hot, this consistent, against this elite defensive team is even more impressive. But he’s also quietly making himself more expensive.

Hachimura will be a free agent at the end of the season, and he’s about to hit the open market.

Hachimura signed a three-year, $51 million deal before the 2023 season. It felt reasonable then. It feels like a bargain now. In a league starving for playoff performers, especially ones who don’t need the ball, can stretch the floor and punish mistakes, Hachimura is about to create a bidding war for his services. 

There’s no doubt that teams will line up to sign him. They always do for role players like this. We expect him to get offered a deal somewhere in the four-year, $80 million to $100 million range. 

Can the Lakers afford that? Maybe, but they’re staring at a financial puzzle that borders on impossible. 

James, Reaves, Maxi Kleber, Kennard, Deandre Ayton, Smart and Jaxson Hayes all can be free agents June 30. All of them will command money. The Lakers will be forced to make some tough decisions. You can’t afford to pay everyone. That’s just the reality of the NBA. 

But here’s one reality that fans should talk about: If the Lakers let Hachimura walk for nothing, then they’re not just losing a role player. 

They’re losing their most consistent playoff performer. The one guy who showed up for every game this series against the reigning champions.

Not LeBron. Not Reaves. Not Dončić. 

And sometimes, in a league obsessed with superstars, the quiet role players end up being the most costly to replace.

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