The 16th article of NBA EXPRESS is now on your news feed and I am here to discuss probably one of the most underrated talent in this year's draft class and it is none other than a japanese native Rui Hachimura. Hachimura was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the 9th overall pick which does makes sense considering they let Otto Porter walk away which means they will be having Rui at either of the forward position.
Now with the Kawhi Leonard comparison which was circling around before the draft night is pretty obvious, not only their body type is similar which is pretty much embraced by Rui in an interview but also the way they play or approach the game. Wizard's Head Coach Scott Brooks also agreed that there's really a valid comparison to Kawhi in which Coach Scott added that Rui's demeanor reminded him more of Kawhi who is the reigning finals mvp right now.
Rui also made a history in the NBA as the first Japanese to be drafted in the lottery, as a fellow asian I am somewhat proud and hoping Rui could exceed all the expectations as a potential franchise player of Wizards. The Wizards badly needed a player to build around with John Wall's health concern and the uncertainty of Bradley Beal's decision of not extending his contract.
Hachimura is an intellectual kid and a fast learner not to mention he just learned english and now pretty good and fluently speaking it right now. He has all the tools with both skills and athleticism, cleary has a great upside and immediately can make an impact in the NBA right now. He could defend different positions and can read the opposing team defense quite good, he also great moving off the ball which compliment pretty nicely when John Wall returns.
The only question is he can improve his shot attempts especially in the three point line which Kawhi became pretty good right now. I think sky is the limit for this young stud, he just need to contact and keep in touch with some great mentors in the history just like how Kawhi trained with Kobe a couple of summer ago.
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