Olympic NBA Prospect Power Rankings: Semifinals

2. Willy Hernangomez

Although Willy Hernangomez was near the bottom of our list for the first three games of the tournament, the Knicks prospect has gotten better every time he has been given a chance to play, and made his presence felt in two of Spain’s biggest matches.

The 22-year-old played roughly four minutes in Spain’s first game of the tournament, a loss to Croatia. He did not even see the court in the second game of the Olympic basketball tournament.

Hernangomez has been on the rise ever since those two losses, going from a non-factor to a key contributor.

It’s not a coincidence that Spain has won four in a row and Hernangomez has played a significant role in a few of those wins. His most impressive game to date is the quarterfinal victory over France, in which the center scored 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and grabbed five rebounds.

When Hernangomez entered Wednesday’s quarterfinal game, Spain was leading by one point.

The 6-foot-11 center scored eight straight points for his team in less than three minutes of action, sparking a Spanish run that would ultimately prove to be the point in which the team ran away with the game.

Although he has not been the most impressive NBA prospect over the course of the entire six games, he has shown up when it counts and could make a big impact in Spain’s upcoming semifinal match against the United States.

Next: 1. Bogdan Bogdanovic