2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 1.0, Atlanta Hawks Take Two Stars

#15. Detroit Pistons – Rui Hachimura

Rui Hachimura of Gonzaga anchored one of the best teams in the country during this year’s college basketball season, and it still seems shocking that they were upset by the surging Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Elite Eight:

Hachimura and the Zags were the only team to defeat the Duke Blue Devils at full strength (before Michigan State did the same thing in the Elite Eight). For his efforts, Rui was awarded the West Coast Conference Player of the Year honors after averaging 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Bulldogs, all with a lofty 63.9 true shooting percentage.

Though he has good size (6-foot-8, 230 pounds), there seem to be concerns about what Hachimura’s game will look like against the best of the best in the NBA. Many of his finishes came versus watered-down competition in the WCC, and he was simply able to outmuscle lesser opponents.

Certainly, the playoff-bound Detroit Pistons will likely zoom to the podium to select a player that has been widely mocked to go in the lottery of this draft class, but there are other options further up the board that seem to be better fits for their respective draft slots. Time will tell where Rui ends up.