Juan Hernangomez
Position: F
Height: 6-9
Weight: 220
Team: Madrid Estudiantes
Ah, the Hernangomez family. You may remember the Sixers drafted his brother Willy last year before flipping him to the Knicks. Juan Hernangomez has a different game than his brother. Juan – who is 20 and will turn 21 in September – made people pay attention to him this season in the Spanish Liga ACB, arguably the best league in Europe.
Through 34 games this year, Hernangomez averaged 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 23.7 minutes. He made 45.5 percent from the floor, hitting 35.8 percent of his threes (on 2.8 attempts per game) and 71.7 percent from the line (on 3.3 attempts per game). Halfway through the season, he was drawing excellent reviews for his efficiency and his face-up offensive game. His production waned a bit as the year continued, but it was still a good showing overall.
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Strengths
For a taller guy, he runs the floor well and has better-than-average athleticism. On the offensive end, he can score in a variety of ways. His three-point game has improved as he’s gotten older (it jumped more than 10 percentage points from last year), and he’s worked to get better scoring in transition and in pick-and-rolls (the NBA’s offensive foundation).
Hernangomez has also shown a willingness to be physical when needed, particularly when rebounding. According to DraftExpress, he’s one of a select few players under 21 who have averaged 10 or more rebounds per-40 minutes in the ACB.
Weaknesses
His energy/competitiveness have been described, alternately, as both a positive and negative. Sometimes his emotions aid him on the floor, and sometimes they distract him from the goal at hand. He still needs to add weight/muscle. Offensively, he hasn’t been great at sharing the ball (his assist rate went down this season from last, and it wasn’t good a year ago), and he needs to improve his ball-handling.
Defensively, he could be useful in the NBA in that he’s quick and athletic enough to stay in front of bigger fours or hang with more nimble threes, but the knock against him is that he sometimes gambles too much. Again, probably an energy/competitiveness flaw that can fixed with time and coaching.
How he’d fit with the Sixers
As currently constructed, another forward – even one who possibly projects as a capable outside shooter and a willing rebounder – is not in the Sixers best interest. Unless they’re trying to monopolize the position, at which point, sure, why not. What’s one more? Pick him up.
NBA comparison
Jonas Jerebko, anyone?
Draft projection
Late first round.
