NBA Draft 2019: 5 most overrated prospects

5. Rui Hachimura, Forward, Gonzaga

The Gonzaga forward was named a consensus 2019 NCAA All-American following his junior season. After starting off his career with the Bulldogs as a reserve, Hachimura exponentially increased his play in his third year. The Japanese native compiled averages of 19.7 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 59.1 percent from the field and 41.6 percent on 3-pointers.

With the NBA game shrinking down and valuing floor spacing at such a high level it would seem that as a 6-foot-8 big, Hachimura would be a great fit in the modern NBA. However, that isn’t necessarily the case.  Hachimura is a decent athlete, but he doesn’t possess many perimeter skills that would translate to the next level if he had to play small forward. At Gonzaga, he often had his best games when he was matched against bigger and slower defenders. Teams didn’t use wings on him because of his ability to overpower players his size or smaller in the interior. That won’t be the case in the NBA. Nearly every small forward that sees action has a similar build to Hachimura.

Defensively he was passable in college, but at times he could react late and take himself out of good help positioning by not recognizing a play as its developing. He also doesn’t provide much in the way of rim protection, Hachimura only had 51 total blocks over his three-year career with the Bulldogs.

Heading into Thursday’s draft, Hachimura is ranked as a back-end-of-the-lottery talent. Given his past attraction to developed upperclassmen, it would be no shock if Michael Jordan and the Charlotte Hornets take him 12th overall. Yet, just like other recent Hornets picks (Frank Kaminsky, Cody Zeller) he has the makings of a disappointment if too much is expected of him too early.