2 Huskies, 2 Bulldogs selected in NBA draft
Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 20, 2019
Herald news services
NEW YORK — Four college basketball stars from the state of Washington heard their names called during the NBA draft on Thursday night at the Barclays Center in New York.
Two Bulldogs. Two Huskies.
Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura and Brandon Clarke, and Washington’s Matisse Thybulle were first-round selections, while Huskies leading scorer Jaylen Nowell landed in the second round.
Hachimura went to the Washington Wizards, Thybulle landed with the Philadelphia 76ers, Clarke found a home with the Memphis Grizzlies and Nowell is headed to Minnesota to join the Timberwolves.
Among the four, Hachimura was the lone lottery pick.
Hachimura became the first player from Japan to get chosen in the first round of the NBA draft, taken with the No. 9 overall pick by the rebuilding Wizards.
The 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward averaged a team-leading 19.7 points and 6.5 rebounds for the Bulldogs last season, earning West Coast Conference player of the year honors.
“It means a lot for me, for my family,” Hachimura said. “For Japan basketball, all my country, it’s a big thing.”
The only other Japanese player drafted in NBA history was Yasutaka Okayama, who went 171st overall in 1981. He never appeared in a regular-season game, something just two players from the country have done.
In explaining why he wanted Hachimura, Wizards interim general manager Tommy Sheppard mentioned the 21-year-old’s play for Japan’s national team.
“For Japan to qualify for the world championships, he’s the focal point. And when the (Tokyo) Olympics come in 2020, he’s going to be the focal point of that country on that basketball team,” Sheppard said. “To be able to shoulder that load at his age — the maturity he has — I think that’s going to bode well for him in the NBA.”
Hachimura is capable of playing either forward spot, a versatility that appealed to Washington, given how much help it needs up and down the roster after going 32-50 and missing the playoffs.
“With the way the league is going, you can just put him out there. It’s such a ‘position-less’ (league). I know that’s the cool thing to say, but it’s true. You have to be able to have playmakers on the floor,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “He can guard multiple positions. He can play 3, 4; in some small lineups, you can probably throw him at the 5.”
Eleven picks after Hachimura landed with the Wizards, the first Husky came off the board when the 76ers received Thybulle in a trade with the Boston Celtics.
The senior swingman, picked No. 20 by the Celtics, was traded in exchange for the No. 24 and No. 33 pick.
Thybulle, 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, was a four-year player for the Huskies and was the 2018-19 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. He’s considered one of the best defensive players in the draft and earned the nickname “The Disruptor” as the only player in Pac-12 history with two 100-steal seasons
One pick after Thybulle, the Grizzlies selected Clarke at No. 21 to pair with Murray State standout Ja Morant, who the Grizzlies took at No. 2.
Clarke, a 6-foot-8 forward and dominant finisher at the rim, averaged 16.9 points per game and 8.6 rebounds last year for the Bulldogs after transferring from San Jose State a year prior.
Nowell, last year’s Pac-12 Player of the Year, was selected 43rd by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nowell led the Huskies last season as a sophomore with 16.2 points per game. He averaged 5.3 rebounds and dished out a career-best 112 assists.
“This is just such a blessing and something I’ve worked my whole life for,” Nowell said. “Now that it’s become a reality, I’m pretty speechless. I get to represent my family, my city and play in the best league in the world, it’s unbelievable.”
