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After averaging 13.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game before the season’s suspension, Rui Hachimura is ramping up for a restart in Orlando that will put a cap on an All-Rookie-level first season. Ask the teammates and coaches that spend the most time around Hachimura, though, and they might be surprised. Not at his productivity, but at the fact that he’s even eligible for the All-Rookie team.
“He's like a seven or eight-year vet,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said of Hachimura.
“He's even-keeled,” Bradley Beal said. “He doesn't get too high or too low. I think an outside person watching this game can figure this out about him. He's very poised for a one-year guy.”
Brooks’ comments about the ninth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft came in December. Beal’s came in November. From the day he stepped into the Wizards’ facilities for the first time, Hachimura wowed teammates, coaches and staff with what he brought to the team from a mental perspective. He’s displayed a steadiness and consistency far beyond his years.
In 41 games this season, Hachimura scored in double figures 31 times and grabbed at least five rebounds 27 times. Night in and night out, the Wizards knew what they could get out of the rookie: scoring from multiple spots on the court, the ability to grab a rebound and push the ball in transition and versatility on both ends of the floor.
Statistically, Hachimura has been among the best rookies in the league this season. His 13.4 points per game rank sixth among all rookies while his 6.0 rebounds per game top the list of qualifying first-year players. Only New Orleans’ Zion Williamson’s 6.7 rebounds per game – in just 19 games – top Hachimura’s rebounding average.
Hachimura’s rookie season, so far, has been among the best in franchise history. 13.4 points per game would be the fourth-most by a Wizards rookie since 2001-02 and just 0.5 points per game short of Beal’s rookie season average: 13.9 points per game in 2012-13. Assuming Hachimura plays in all eight of Washington’s seeding games in Orlando, he will need to average 16.6 points per game to jump Beal’s mark.
What teammates appreciate most about Hachimura’s contributions, however, have little to do with statistical accomplishment.
“One thing he does that separates him from a lot of other players at a young age, is he plays hard, and you never have to question that,” Beal said after Washington’s March 10 win over Knicks, their last outing before the hiatus. “You never have to curse him out just to get him to play hard. I think that is the beauty of it because once you do that, you work hard, your skills will come along the way and I think that we all can agree that he has gotten better since the beginning of the year.”
As a top-10 pick, Hachimura has brought exactly what teams are looking for at the top of the draft – a presence. Hachimura has started every game he’s been healthy for this season and trails only Beal in minutes per game, minutes that he’s earned, according to Brooks, by playing the right way.
“He's a winner,” Brooks said. “He just plays the right way. He plays hard, he plays for his team. He's not searching for stats. He just competes and he wants to get better. He knows he has a lot to learn and he's a sponge out there, he wants to improve.”
In Orlando, Hachimura will have plenty of time to learn and improve. With Beal and Davis Bertans absent, there is a sizeable gap in both minutes and scoring set to be filled by any member of the rotation – and Hachimura is a prime candidate to see an uptick in responsibility.
“I just want to see Rui continue to improve and get better every single day and have that workman like mentality, which he has,” Brooks said during one of team’s Orlando press availabilities. “He’s had a great foundation growing up and you can tell. He comes to do his job every night. It’s going to be an adjustment for everybody (without Beal)…Rui without Brad is going to be a growing period. But I think he’s going to do well.”