Darvin Ham says Rui Hachimura has found success in ‘keeping it simple’ for Lakers

There are not many bright spots for the Lakers this season, but Rui Hachimura has been coming into his own recently, according to Darvin Ham and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers’ victory against the Hawks saw many great performances from the team. LeBron James was as dominant as ever and D’Angelo Russell had a team-high 27 points. However, Rui Hachimura's effort was lost in the shuffle.

He shot 70% from the field, scored 17 points in his 23 minutes of play and was a plus-21, the third-best plus-minus on the team Monday.

Following the game, head coach Darvin Ham praised his starter.

“I think just him keeping it simple, not overthinking things,” Ham said. That’s been the biggest thing, just him keeping it simple, not overthinking. If you’re open, shoot it. If you put it on the floor, get all the way to the rim. He’s big, strong, athletic, can do a variety of things.

“But just him keeping it simple, not overthinking things. His teammates, they do a great job of trying to help him through if he has a tough matchup defensively, him getting out, finding open areas in transition and offensively, in the half court, just making him a part of whatever action is going on and encouraging him to be extremely aggressive.”

Over the past four games, Hachimura has been unstoppable. He’s averaging 16.5 points on 67% shooting while grabbing 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He is also shooting 50% from 3-point range, tied for the highest average on the team during this span. Only Anthony Davis is shooting as well from deep, but Davis is only averaging one three per game while Hachimura is taking three per contest.

Davis went into detail after the win on how good Hachimura has been for the Lakers.

“What impressed me a lot is he’s been able to read the double teams,” Davis said. “He don’t pass out of them but he’ll go around them and score. He’s just been really efficient for us, especially with his catch and shoot. He’s been able to knock down big shots for us and shoot the ball extremely well. I told him it comes with getting paid. You have to elevate to the level the team thought you were worth and he’s been exceptional for us.”

Hachimura re-signed with the Lakers on a 3-year $51 million dollar deal this past summer. His numbers this year look similar to his career averages, but if he keeps stepping up during these key games, he’ll be well worth the investment the team made in him last offseason.

Certain role players in Lakers history have been integral to winning basketball, like Derek Fisher and Robert Horry.

Hachimura has a long way to go to be considered that caliber of role/rotation player, but he did have an impressive playoff run last year. If he continues to do that this season, then he’ll be well worth his current pay and can help this team reach its full potential this spring and beyond.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.