Clippers Sign Rui Hachimura to Two-Year Deal, Still Chasing Peyton Watson

Rui Hachimura is staying in Los Angeles, just switching sides of town. 

The Clippers agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal with the forward on Monday, pulling him away from the Lakers just days into free agency, per ESPN's Shams Charania. 

Hachimura spent the last three and a half seasons wearing purple and gold, helping the Lakers reach the second round before Oklahoma City swept them out of the playoffs, and now he moves in with a team trying to build something new after trading away Kawhi Leonard.

Why Rui Fits in Los Angeles

The fit makes sense for a roster that needed exactly this. 

Los Angeles came into free agency with Derrick Jones Jr. as its only real option at power forward, and Jones spent two stints of six weeks out last season with a knee injury of his own. 

Hachimura gives the frontcourt size and shooting without needing the ball, which pairs well with an offensive tandem built around Darius Garland and Brandon Ingram, two players who want the floor spread out so they can work downhill and get to the rim. 

He is coming off a season where he put up 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds a game for the Lakers in 68 games, numbers that hold up even better considering how rarely he turns the ball over and how well he has shot once the playoffs begin. 

That shooting trait has made him a reliable playoff performer across his career.

Peyton Watson Remains a Priority

Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson is the other name still tied to the Clippers this summer, and the two sides have been connected for weeks. 

Watson is a restricted free agent coming off a breakout season, one that ended early when a hamstring injury cost him the final stretch of games and all of the playoffs.

Even with the missed time, he averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocks a game, shooting a combined 49 and 41 percent from the field and three-point range. 

Only the Clippers and the Brooklyn Nets reportedly have enough room to put together an offer sheet at the price Watson wants, which is somewhere north of $25 million a year.

Denver has said all along it plans to match any offer sheet for Watson, but the Nuggets are also deep into the luxury tax and have shown real willingness to work out a sign-and-trade instead of just paying him. 

Reports have floated Derrick Jones Jr. as a workable trade piece, and he happens to play the same role Hachimura now fills in Los Angeles. 

That overlap gives the Clippers a path to land Watson without needing him and Hachimura to fight for the same minutes. 

Landing either player would be a huge boost for a Clippers team trying to climb back after finishing 42-40 last season, good for ninth in the West, and falling to Golden State in the play-in game that ended their year before the playoffs even started.