Willy already has a destination. The Spanish pivot has reached an agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans, with whom he will play next season for the minimum wage (2.5 million dollars). In this way, the oldest of the Hernangómez makes sure to be one more year in the NBA, where he has been since 2016. The international with the Spanish National Team, with which he was proclaimed world champion in China just over a year ago, went from the Knicks to the Hornets, for whom he has played the last two and a half seasons. Always fighting for a spot in the rotation, the last course he averaged 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in just over 12 minutes of play, playing only 31 games. Now he comes to a young and promising project in which he will try to continue to gain experience and definitely earn a place in the best league in the world.
Free agent center Willy Hernangomez has agreed to a one-year, minimum deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, agent Guillermo Bermejo of YouFirst and Tandem Sports tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 22, 2020
Raised in the lower categories of Real Madrid (he was on loan to Betis from 2013 to 2015), Willy made the leap to the NBA four years ago, and was in the ranks of a Knicks adrift until he was traded, in his second season, to Michael Jordan’s Hornets. With Madrid, Willy conquered two leagues, a Copa del Rey, a Spanish Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup, but he never had too much prominence in the ranks of Pablo Laso. In his first year in the NBA was when he enjoyed more prominence, playing 72 games, 22 of them as a starter, and averaging 8.2 points and 7 rebounds in the Big Apple, also running as one of the best interior men in Spain.
After losing prominence, he arrived in Charlotte, where whenever he has played he has performed at a good level, making perfect use of his minutes on the court. In the 2017-18 season he went to 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds in just 14 minutes, being able to produce a lot of statistics in a short time, in addition to exceeding ten points in 11 of the 12 games in which he played more than 20 minutes. This year he has spent several games without playing by technical decision, but he was gaining prominence, averaging 8.3 points on 56.9% shooting from the field in his last 19 games, all of them coming off the bench. His progression was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic and the Hornets, who were not in Disney’s bubble, did not play again for the entire season.
Willy will have competition at the center position. Steven Adams has come to the franchise as part of the transfer that has sent Jrue Holiday to the Bucks and comes from being a starting center in OKC. Further, Jaxson Hayes, No. 8 in last year’s draft, will have minutes and the frontcourt of the team suggests that he will play several minutes without center. Of course, Willy will have the opportunity to fight for a position and learn from a coach, Stan Van Gundy, who has just arrived in the franchise and has trained centers such as Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard or Andre Drummond. The Pelicans, who have let E’Twaun Moore go to Phoenix (he was a free agent), have practically completed the roster and hope to give some scare in the ultra-competitive West. Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson … are just some of the names that Willy Hernangómez will share a wardrobe with, which starts a new adventure.
