As the so-called early bird has worms to eat. While most of the league's players were still in vacation mode, Hachimura had already followed Phil Handy into training mode. For such eight villages, it is hard not to love it.
In fact, off-site efforts are only one aspect, and more from inside the field.
In the 22-23 playoffs, Hachimura averaged 12.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Admittedly, the data is relatively average, but there are many surprises.
Surprise point one: three points. Against the Grizzlies in the first round of the 22-23 playoffs, Hachimura made a 3-point percentage of 52.4%; In the second round against the Warriors, Hachimura made a three-point percentage of 55.6%; Against the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, Hachimura made a 33.3 percent three-point rate.
Thanks to a good three-point percentage and a three-point shot of 29.8%. Hachimura on the offensive end is a good space spot. In terms of data, when he was on the floor with Hachimura, James and Thick Eyebrow's 100-round shooting percentages increased by 1.2 and 1.9 percentage points, respectively.
For the Lakers, when Hachimura is on the floor, he scored 111.6 points per 100 rounds, and dropped to 109.8 points after the game. The difference of 1.8 is a good indication of the importance of Hachimura to the Lakers' offense.
Surprise point two: defense. Realistically speaking, without the advantage of speed, Hachimura cannot lead flexible guards like Morant and Curry like Vanderbilt. However, Hachimura's advantage is that it has sufficient tonnage and strong counter-confrontation ability, and can lead non-speed interior lines.
If he and Jokic total 23 minutes and 08 seconds, limit him to 10 of 25 shots, and the shooting rate is 40%; Another example is a total of 5 minutes and 52 seconds against Kevin Rooney, limiting him to 1 of 4 shots, with a shooting percentage of 25%.
In fact, in the 22-23 playoffs, Hachimura's 40 percent of the defensive rounds defending opponents who shot less than 6 feet from the basket could suppress shooting from 63.6 percent to 48.4 percent. The difference of 15.2 percentage points is a good indication of the effect of Hachimura Gang basket protection.
Based on the above two points, it can be said that Hachimura is one of the best players in the Lakers playoffs. It is precisely because of this that Pelinka did not hesitate to offer a 3-year 51 million contract extension in the offseason. After signing a big contract, I think Hachimura will basically lock in the Lakers' starters for the new season.
Reason 1: Contract. 51 million in 3 years, the average salary is 17 million. The price of close to 20 million to play substitutes is indeed somewhat extravagant.
Reason 2: Characteristics. On the basis of stable medium investment, Hachimura effectively developed three points. On the defensive end, the basket protection effect is good. In terms of characteristics, it can be divided into 3D ranks to a certain extent. Then for Zhan Mei, to be precise, the help for thick eyebrows is:
On the offensive end.
In the 22-23 season, 67.1% of the shots accounted for by thick eyebrows were completed on the inside. With so many inside shots, there is obviously a great demand for space. And Hachimura has the ability to contain defenders and open space when he shoots from a long distance with stability. To put it another way, when defenders are in open positions above 6 feet, Hachimura shoots 62.3%.
Defensive end.
Although Hayes signed 211, given the lack of confrontational ability. Inevitably, the new season has to top the No. 5 position on the defensive end. In this way, Hachimura can share the pressure of protecting the basket under the thick eyebrow basket.
Normally, the Lakers' starters in the new season will be Russell/Vincent, Reeves, Hachimura, James and Thick Eyebrows. Of course, there will be variables. Torrion Prince is a variable point.
Illustration point 1: Projection. In 424 games so far in his career, Prince has made 51% of three-point appearances, 37.2% of three-point percentages and averaged 1.7 goals per game. Not only is three-point shooting a lot but efficiency is guaranteed, and I think Prince has reached the elite shooter level.
I mean, even if it can't reach the historical level of Curry, Klay and others, it's still not a big problem to be comparable to Hield, Curry Jr. and others.
Illustration point two: defense. In the 22-23 season, under Prince's opposing defense, opponents shot greater than 15 feet from the field from 38.7% to 36.2%. If against Bridges, limit his shooting percentage to 33.3%, and against Reeves, limit his hit rate to 20%.
Combined with the above two points, Prince's characteristics are also biased towards 3D. Here, congratulations to the Lakers for getting a good combat power, I think the pressure of Hachimura is also coming. To be precise, the starting spot may be grabbed.
Reason 1: Characteristics. As mentioned earlier, the characteristics of Hachimura and Prince can be summarized into 3D to a certain extent.
Reason two: efficiency. From the offensive end, Hachimura is more stable in shooting and Prince is more efficient in three-point shooting; On the defensive end, Hachimura can defend the inside and Prince outside.
In this way, the two have their own merits. But if you look at the actual situation, I mean, there is James on the offensive end, especially with James holding the ball a lot, and other players just need to be ready to catch the ball and shoot. On the defensive end, James, who is willing to defend, can also defend the inside. On the contrary, there is no protection against the outside line.
That said, from a practical point of view, Prince is more dominant.
Of course, if Hachimura really can't play the starter. I don't think it's entirely bad, after all, with the ability to shoot, you can be the core firepower point of the substitute. To a certain extent, this promotes presence and more opportunities to prove oneself.