2019 NBA Draft: Pros and Cons of Atlanta Hawks Drafting Rui Hachimura

Cons

The thing that leaps off the page on Hachimura’s scouting report is his size. His height of 6’8 is slightly offset by his 7’2 wingspan, but he’ll still be one of the smallest 4s in the league when he is drafted.

To put that into perspective, shooting guard Kevin Huerter is listed at 6’7, and recently traded wing Taurean Prince matched Hachimura’s size. He’s not fast enough to slot down to the 3, which will put him at an instant disadvantage at his position.

We’ve seen some teams trot out an undersized power forward with success (Paul Millsap is 6’8) but Rui is not a naturally talented rebounder and his team will have a good chance of being out-rebounded when he’s on the court.

Hachimura is also not seen as much of a floor general, posting an awful 1.5 to 1.8 assist to turnover ratio, which would fit poorly on an Atlanta Hawks team that valued passing and had a hard time limiting turnovers last season.

He’s also been consistently knocked on his decision-making, which can come around with time in the league, but is also a trait that the other non-freshmen in the 2019 NBA Draft carry with them as a plus of being more experienced.

Speaking of, Rui will be closer to 22 than 21 when the season kicks off, making him one of the older players the Atlanta Hawks could pick up on 2019 NBA Draft Night. You may read into his draft age as being a positive and believe it means the player will adjust to the league better, but it’s easy to see the negatives with it as well.

And while he won’t be a defensive liability outright, he’s not likely to make a huge impact on that side of the floor either. Outside of the size aspect, most of these can turn around, as we have seen much more flawed college players turn it around it a big way.