Height: 6’11
Weight: 250
Year: International
Position: Center
2014-2015 Overseas Statistics:
10.06 PTS 5.70 REB 53.2 FG% 20.0 3PT% 72.0 FT%
Draft Projection: Late 1st Round
NBA Player Comparison: Gustavo Ayon
Gullermo (Willy) Hernangomez is a talented international player. He’s definitely one of those players who, when selected on draft day, will promote fans to saying “Who the heck is that?” once they hear his name. The odds are pointing to Willy deciding to play overseas for a couple years to develop his craft, but the problem with that is more often then not, the players don’t come back. Hopefully Guillermo is different as he does have a great upside.
Willy is a fantastic post-player who uses his craftiness and high IQ to beat the defender in the post, not his athleticism. Is that such a bad thing? No, a player like Al Jefferson has succeeded at doing just that for so long now. If you have ever watched Willy play in the post, you can see that when the double team comes, he seems to always make the right decision with the ball. He is a smart player.
There are some key elements to his game that he has to work on though. His dribbling skills in the post are atrocious, some of the worst handles I’ve seen. If he can’t see the floor while backing down the defender, there is no chance he lives in the NBA. His shot, while looking pure, has failed him for the most part. I know he can do better from the field and from deep, we just need to see that.
Hernangomez is a smart player, as mentioned, but isn’t NBA ready yet. I think that for the most part, he will have a career that closely resembles that of Gustavo Ayon’s. Ayon is such a beast in the paint and has always been regarded as an exceptional international player. The problem has been that he hasn’t been able to contribute on an NBA team whether it had been Atlanta, Milwaukee, or whoever else made a run at him. We know Ayon had the talent, but just couldn’t translate it to the NBA. Will that be the same for Willy? Only time will tell, but on draft day expect teams that are already established, like the Spurs,to choose him as he is a great prospect that needs a lot of work. For now, I can’t say for sure that Willy will be in the NBA one day, but we can always hope.
Future Professional Potential: Overseas
