2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 2.0, Atlanta Hawks Pick #4 and #10, Lakers Win Lottery
By Chris Guest
#12. Charlotte Hornets – Rui Hachimura
Rui Hachimura of the Gonzaga Bulldogs has moved up ever so slightly from the most recent 2019 NBA Draft full mock we posted last month. In that scenario, Hachimura fell to 15th overall – out of the lottery – where the Pistons snapped him up gladly.
Instead, in this mock, Hachimura is back up into the lottery, where his unique skill set is attractive to the talent-strapped Charlotte Hornets. With Kemba Walker likely on the move this offseason after the team failed to make the playoffs again in a watered-down Eastern Conference, the team will be looking to improve at almost every position.
Though they have Miles Bridges from the 2018 NBA Draft and Jeremy Lamb is still only 26 years old (for another month at least) and coming off the best season of his career, Hachimura could be the team’s next franchise cornerstone.
He might not have the best feel or basketball IQ, but Hachimura certainly produced some sterling numbers in his junior season at Gonzaga per College Basketball Reference – including 19.7 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game and 1.5 assists per game on the way to being named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.
Rui would be the most vaunted collegiate prospect to be drafted by Charlotte for a long while, and he would provide the post-Kemba Charlotte team a slim ray of hope after its best player in franchise history likely leaves for greener pastures.