NBA

NBA Market Share Report: Willy Hernangomez Is Making the Most of His Chances

Shae Cronin  —  @shaelson Feb 3rd, 2017
Despite the small sample size, the Knicks' rookie big man is putting up awesome numbers when given the opportunity.

Welcome back to another weekly edition of the NBA Market Share Report. If you missed the last installment, you can find it here -- we talk about life without Chris Paul and gush a bit over one of our favorite veterans.

This week is another two-parter, where we take a look at the sudden rise in Washington, as well as the most efficient big man in New York.

Let us hoop!

Wizards Flip Script

Because I’ll never shy away from an opportunity to talk about how well the Washington Wizards are doing, here are a few words not only to acknowledge their current hot streak but also to note why that may interest the daily fantasy crowd.

Currently ranked ninth in our overall nERD rankings (55.0), the Wiz have gone 13-4 since the start of the new year, thanks to a fully engaged unit playing unselfish ball on the shoulders of their fearless leader, John Wall.

Backcourt partner Bradley Beal is firing away, Otto Porter has earned himself a max deal this coming summer, and Marcin Gortat continues to be one of the more underrated big men in the league.


It’s also important we don’t leave out head coach Scott Brooks, who deserves a ton of credit for turning the same roster that opened the season looking like leftovers you’d probably never eat into a pretty nice meal. With a healthy roster on his side, Brooks has flipped the Wiz from 6-12 at the start of December to a 98.8 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to our numbers.

But enough blab of hometown bias. Here’s some backup as to why the Wizards are not only a fun and entertaining watch but also a nice team to target on a DFS slate.

Over their last 17 games, the Wizards' game totals (amongst both teams) has averaged 213 points, with only two games finishing below 200 points and more than a third of them finishing higher than 220.

As a team ranked in the top-half of the league in pace, they don’t have a problem going out and scoring 107 points a night on some pretty impressive shooting along with a desirable scoring margin (+2.1) when it comes to limiting blowouts.

Wizards Pts/Gm FG% 3P% eFG% Ast/Gm ORB%
2016-17 107.1 .476 .369 .527 23.5 24.2
League Rank 10 3 6 6 9 11


It’ll be interesting to see if the front office makes any moves before the deadline, but for right now in their present form, the Wizards are firing on all cylinders.

Their game scripts are usually a net positive, and they have multiple names to choose from when building your daily lineups.

Give Willy the Minutes!

Although you’re likely reading this on the heels of back-to-back double-doubles for the New York Knicks' rookie big man, there appears to be some staying power when it comes to Willy Hernangomez -- who also happens to rank up there with some of the best names in the league.

It’s safe to say that, in most cases, dropping $72 million on a free agent center would provide you the frontcourt anchor your team is looking for. But when it comes to the situation in New York, Joakim Noah and that enormous contract he netted last summer aren’t the Knicks' best option. Instead, the numbers point to Hernangomez.


Yes, the sample size is still rather small, but Hernangomez’s production seems to boil down to a simple recipe: give him the time and he’ll give you the production.

Take a look at Hernangomez’s production per 36 minutes compared to New York’s other options at the position.

Player PTS REB AST STL BLK
Willy Hernangomez 15.2 14 2.3 0.9 1.2
Joakim Noah 8.1 14.2 3.7 1.1 1.3
Kyle O'Quinn 14.5 13.6 2.9 0.9 3.1


Shout out to Kyle O'Quinn for continuing his run as a per-minute maniac, but raw data aside, for a 22-year-old rookie with only 620 total professional minutes played on this continent, that’s some impressive stuff.

There have been 11 games this season in which Hernangomez has played 20 minutes or more. In those 11 games, he’s averaging a double-double (11 points and 10 boards), including double-digit rebounding totals in eight of them. In fact, Hernangomez’s 14 rebounds per 36 minutes ranks seventh in the league among all players with at least 600 minutes.

While it may still be early in Hernangomez’s career, how long can the Knicks keep one of their better young players from playing more minutes?

With New York currently still in the hunt for the 8 seed in the East, providing a young player with significant minutes during the second half of the season and receiving efficient production in return could make for a solid situation all the way around. And that goes for us daily fantasy players, too.

And that'll do it for this week. Remember that the best facts are those that aren't alternative. See ya next time!