Charlotte Hornets: The Madridian Bull Willy Hernangomez

Willy Hernangomez’s Defense

Despite what you may infer from his lack of consistent playing time, Willy took real strides on the defensive end this past season.

Willy is not the best rim protector. He has totaled 36 blocks in his Hornets career; Bismack Biyombo totaled 49 this past season. However, Willy is a sound positional defender, promptly rotating and putting his body between the opponent and the basket, which helps him alter shots(although the better slashers in the league can finish around Willy at the rim). Willy’s defensive FG% within 6 feet of the basket was 61.4%, clearly below average amongst NBA centers, but in my opinion, a stat that underrates the Spaniard’s defensive awareness, which is far in excess of saying Bismack Biyombo (despite Biz’ impressive 51.7 defensive FG%).

Hernangomez improved his mobility this past season. You don’t want him switching onto guards defending the pick and roll, but Willy’s improved mobility gave him more utility on defense to switch certain actions and pick up some wings in transition and half-court.

This improved mobility was exemplified by defending the pick and roll. The Charlotte Hornets made the…interesting decision to hedge/blitz pick and rolls regardless of who the center was on the court.

Despite not having the mobility to guard most perimeter players, Willy was up for the challenge, showing a strong understanding of the importance of angles, hand positioning, and timing when hedging the pick and roll. When done right, hedging the pick and roll can disrupt the flow of opponents’ offenses, and Willy certainly did his absolute best to play within the team’s pick and roll defensive schemes.

However, he is still not a mobile big. When he closes out shooters, he often slides all over the floor like he’s a Hurricanes player, not a Charlotte Hornets one. And quicker perimeter players usually blow by Willy. If a rotation is a millisecond late, Willy is often left in the dust.

Willy’s combination of hustle and IQ on defense really showed in transition. Willy was constantly back on defense before the opposing center crossed half-court, and often took up the middle portion of the court to deter early shot-clock drives from opposing teams.

Overall, Willy’s improvement is yet another important consideration for the Charlotte Hornets’ center rotation heading into next season. He’s clearly an NBA level big man, but in spite of Willy’s superior positional defense and offense compared to Bismack Biyombo, James Borrego failed to show faith in Hernangomez’ play (Willy’s 375 minutes played this past season was less than half of the 812 minutes he played in 2018/19 season).

Furthermore, the Hornets seem prepared to address the center position this offseason, either through the draft(James Wiseman and Zeke Nnaji would be strong options) or free agency (with all kinds of center options available ranging from the veteran Hassan Whiteside to the 22-year-old Harry Giles).

Hernangomez may be inclined to test waters in Free Agency; notably, Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, two of Willy’s closest friends, play for the Dallas Mavericks who are in need of a center. He’s an improving big man whose still in his athletic prime with feasible avenues to further improvement.

But no matter what NBA team Hernangomez plays for next season, I will look forward to his play. If Willy consolidates the defensive communication and positioning he showed this past season whilst improving the three-point shot and his scoring out of the low post, he may yet have the potential to be a starting level NBA center.