Rui Hachimura returned to the court after nearly a month out with a knee injury, but he admitted he won't be fully healthy until the offseason as the LA Lakers navigate his minutes.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura returned to the court on Saturday night after nearly a month sidelined with patellar tendinopathy. However, the knee issue is expected to linger for the rest of the season.
Hachimura admitted he might not be back to full strength until the offseason.
"It's like 70-80 [percent]," Hachimura said on Saturday. "My knee's going to be like there for a while, I think. I can't really get back to 100% right away. I got to rest for a long time to get back to my normal. We just go to maintain and manage it."
Hachimura originally suffered the injury in late February against the LA Clippers and has spent the past few weeks rehabbing.
"Maybe this ends up being a situation where he does stay on the bench, at least for the short term, because of the minutes restriction and because he's not 100% or even close to 100% physically," Jovan Buha of The Athletic noted. "This could kind of alter the way that the Lakers rotation functions, the way that some of their lineups function. ... To have him not be close to 100% is unfortunate, and that's a blow."
Saturday's return didn't go as planned, as the Lakers were blown out at home by the Chicago Bulls, 146-115. Hachimura came off the bench on a minutes restriction and struggled to find his rhythm, finishing with just five points on 2-of-6 shooting in 18 minutes.
Hachimura, the fourth most important Lakers player, is averaging 13.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 40.7% from deep over 51 games this season.
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