The Cleveland Cavaliers should keep an eye on Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura
The Cleveland Cavaliers are in line for at least a top-three pick in the 2019 NBA Draft this upcoming June as it sits right now. But Sunday’s win against the Lakers brought the Cavaliers closer to the bunch of teams above them. If they were to fall out of the top three, who should they keep an eye on?
The Cleveland Cavaliers will undoubtedly be like the rest of the NBA lottery teams when it comes to their top choices if they land a pick within the top two selections. Duke’s R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson have essentially cemented themselves as the first pair of teammates since Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to go first and second overall. But after that, the field starts to become wide-open on who should be taken third overall and so forth.
Guys like Duke’s third star Cam Reddish and Murray State’s Ja Morant have started to position themselves as top-five selections midway through the college campaign. Oregon’s Bol Bol and USC’s Kevin Porter Jr., despite both having issues this season in one way or another, are also intriguing names to pay attention to.
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But what happens if the Cavaliers play themselves out of the top three and end up with a pick in the 4-8 range? Who would be there for the taking?
One of the under-the-radar names the Wine and Gold should have tabs on is Gonzaga forward Rui Hachimura. Hachimura is a junior for the Bulldogs and after two seasons of paying his dues perhaps, he has been given plenty of chances to impress NBA teams this season.
Hachimura is averaging 20.8 points, six rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game in eighteen games, all of them starts for the Bulldogs. He averages 29.6 minutes per night on the floor, playing three-fourths of each ballgame, per Sports Reference.
What makes Hachimura so interesting is his fantastic touch in the mid-range game. At 6-foot-8, 225-pounds, the Gonzaga junior makes defenders lay back on their heels in fear of him driving to the lane and finishing. But Hachimura has excellent footwork that makes an easy jab-step or quick few steps to the rim enough to shake the opposition and end up with a nice mid-range pop that he’ll knock down more often than not. Hachimura is connecting on 59.2 percent of his shots from the floor, most of them coming from inside the perimeter.
On the other end of the floor, Hachimura is a fleet-footed defender who understands his build could give the officials more of an opportunity to call a foul on him. There’s somewhat of a graceful nature about Hachimura around the rim that is giving him almost a block per game. That shouldn’t necessarily be expected by a forward that is considered more of an offensive player at this stage in his career.
And though Hachimura has had a few less-than-stellar games this season, he’s been pretty sound the whole 2018-19 campaign. He especially came out to play when the lights were the brightest.
That was a game against number-one ranked Duke at the Maui Invitational this past November. Playing against a star-studded roster, Hachimura posted 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks on a 50-percent shooting clip from the floor.
Watching Hachimura is like watching Bob Ross paint- it’s silky smooth. He isn’t going to speed past defenders or consistently jam on the opposition. His three-point game is efficient but you won’t see him heave up seven or eight perimeter shots on any night. That’s just not what the 21-year-old is.
Instead, he takes what the defense gives him and his awareness helps him make the right basketball play at that moment in time. He has a pretty well-rounded game and that’s what he trusts in over a niche that other star players have used to get recognition from the next level.
What Hachimura doesn’t really give NBA scouts a ton of film on is his man-to-man defense. Gonzaga, like a decent amount of top programs, employs a zone defense that helps hides the weaknesses of some of their players on that side of the floor. That’s not to say Hachimura can’t defend one player over the course of a game but it does need to be mentioned that Gonzaga head coach Mark Few doesn’t ask that of his players.
That, along with his passing efficiency, are two of the areas that Hachimura hasn’t been able to display or needs to improve on. The right play is made most of the time but the actual passing could be a little cleaner from Hachimura. Making strides in that area could make Hachimura a dangerous man to guard at the NBA-level.
It would be disappointing if the Cavaliers couldn’t land a top-three selection in the 2019 NBA Draft this June. But if they landed in that next range of picks within the top ten, Hachimura would be a nice consolation prize.