The Golden State Warriors' interest in Rui Hachimura may have ended when the 28-year-old signed with the L.A. Clippers in free agency, but the door could reopen further down the track after the league handed down their punishment for salary cap circumvention with Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers have been stripped of five first-round picks as a result of the investigation, making a player like Hachimura the exact type of player they could look to trade in order to try and recoup some picks they can utilize moving forward.
Clippers punishment could reopen Warriors' Rui Hachimura pursuit
If the Clippers are a middling or simply bad team come the mid-season deadline, it wouldn't be overly suprising if they look to sell some of their role players like Hachimura who just signed a two-year, $28 million contract.
Assuming Hachimura continues to be a productive and reliable starting forward as he was with the Los Angeles Lakers over the past four seasons, it's reasonable to envisage that he could yield the Clippers a protected first-round pick from a rival team.
Would the Warriors be interested in that scenario given their pursuit of Hachimura in free agency? Obviously there's a difference between signing a player in free agency and giving up a protected first-round pick (and matching salary) in a trade, but Hachimura's shooting and scoring from the forward spot is an element that clearly appealed to Golden State this offseason.
Hachimura averaged 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds on a career-high 44.3% 3-point shooting in his final season with the Lakers, but that elevated to 17.5 points on an extraordinary 56.9% from beyond the arc during the playoffs after injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Warriors will evaluate forward rotation early in the season
Golden State's trade plans at the mid-season deadline will clearly be dictated by how they perform early in the season, especially when it comes to the forward rotation before they welcome back six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler from injury.
Any renewed interest in Hachimura will likely be contingent on what the Warriors see from Yaxel Lendeborg and Gui Santos. If the young duo perform strongly through the first half of the season, suddenly there may be no need to look at an alternative forward option, particularly a non-star like Hachimura who may not be as good as Lendeborg or Santos anyway.
It's for that reason that it's hard to envision the Warriors trading for Hachimura come the deadline, but the possibility could arise nonetheless as the Clippers look for ways to try and build their roster in the wake of this brutal punishment.
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