Washington Wizards: Why Rui Hachimura is their third-best player
2. Points per game
Before the COVID-19-induced hiatus from the pandemic that ravaged not just the United States but the whole world, Hachimura was averaging 13.4 points per game which is the third-highest on the team. Clearly, points do not illustrate the whole story, but in this case, it certainly tells a lot of it.
Considering the fact that the Japan native is a rookie and is scoring this kind of volume on an injury-plagued team speaks volumes. Not to mention he is averaging more than Troy Brown Jr. who was drafted by Washington 15th overall in the 2018 draft.
The only players that are averaging more than Hachimura are Beal (obviously) and Davis Bertans. Again the points are impressive but the level of confidence that the rookie has is inspiring.
In addition to Hachimura averaging the third-highest point total, he does this in spite of not really having any plays called for him. Even without his own page in the playbook, the rookie still finds a way to make the correct basketball play at a high frequency.