Spanish prospect Juan Hernangomez has declared for this year’s draft, agent Igor Crespo tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link). A wide gap exists in the projections for the 6’9″ 20-year-old, with Givony pegging him a late first-round pick at No. 29 in his prospect rankings while Chad Ford of ESPN.com has him outside draft range at No. 71. Givony lists Hernangomez as a combo forward in his profile but refers to him as a power forward in his tweet, while Ford’s profile shows him as a power forward.
Hernangomez, who is the younger brother of Knicks draft-and-stash prospect Guillermo (Willy) Hernangomez, has offensive versatility and is a competitive rebounder, but his decision-making and youthful mistakes on defense are his shortcomings, according to Givony. Ford points to his standout midrange game as well as his lack of strength and underdeveloped post-up game.
He averaged 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game with 33.8% 3-point shooting across 28 appearances this year for Movistar Estudiantes of Spain. The club gave him a starting role for the majority of the season, a breakout campaign for him after he saw just 10.0 per contest last year.
Do the Knicks see Willy as being part of their plans for 2016-2017? If not, for how long can they retain his rights?