Milwaukee Bucks: 6 low-cost centers to target at the trade deadline
By Adam McGee
Willy Hernangomez
After excelling in his rookie season with the Knicks, playing opportunities have essentially disappeared for Willy Hernangomez during his second season in the NBA.
Hernangomez doesn’t only possess a valuable combination of size, skill and strength, but he’s got youth on his side and considerable experience that doesn’t always accompany players of his age.
The 23-year-old developed his game at Real Madrid’s famed youth set-up, and between time with Madrid and Sevilla, he got to experience high level professional basketball from an early age.
That was backed up with rookie averages in the NBA of 8.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in just 18.4 minutes per game, but Hernangomez has fallen out of favor with Jeff Hornacek and has only played in 25 games while averaging just half of his minutes per game total from last year.
All of this combines to make Hernangomez one of the most appealing prospects who happens to be flying under the radar heading into the trade deadline. Not only can the Spaniard offer a stable presence inside now, but at just 23, he’s also under contract through to the end of the 2019-20 season and scheduled to make no more than $1.7 million per year.
A smart team will be prepared to pay a little bit extra to land Hernangomez, as his cheap, controllable contract will be worth its own weight in gold for cap restricted teams in the coming years, and he may yet have further room to develop too.