Kings, Mavs Among Those Interested in Wizards’ Rui Hachimura

The Kings and the Mavericks are among those with trade interest in Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

League sources told Hoops Wire the Bucks also have an interest, as we relayed here.

Hachimura is reportedly available as the Wizards have begun trade talks ahead of the Feb. 9 deadline, per Shams Charania and Josh Robbins of The Athletic. That report also indicated that Hachimura is drawing interest from several Western Conference teams.

Hachimura is making $6.26 million this season, and Scotto theorized that the Kings could send guard Terence Davis or center Alex Len back to the Wizards to make a deal work.

While fellow Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma has been drawing most of the trade interest, it is Hachimura that the Wizards appear more willing to move. That would help free things up financially after the season to re-sign Kuzma, per Charania and Robbins.

As it stands, the Wizards do indeed have a bit of a logjam at forward, with Kuzma, Hachimura, Kristaps Porzingis, and Deni Avdija at the position. It seems the Wizards’ priority is keeping Kuzma and Porzingis.

“I just want to be somewhere that wants me as a basketball player,” Hachimura said, via Ava Wallace of the Washington Post. “And I want to be somewhere that loves my — likes my game, you know? … I just want to be somewhere that trusts, believes in me. Just I can be myself — that’s my goal.”

Hachimura, 24, is 6-foot-8 and was selected by the Wizards out of Gonzaga with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He is averaging 13.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 30 games this season, shooting 49 percent from the field.

The best season of his four-year career came in 2020-21, his second in the league, when he averaged 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 57 games.