Rui Hachimura capped off his impressive rookie season Thursday by representing the Washington Wizards at the NBA Draft Lottery.
The 22-year-old forward from Japan, who was selected No. 9 last year, saw Washington once again draw the ninth ball in the lottery to determine the order in which teams pick players from the incoming rookie class.
The lottery, involving the bottom 14 teams from the regular season, was held online for the first time this year in response to the coronavirus crisis.
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Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard, who earlier this week lauded Hachimura for his rookie campaign, said the franchise was happy to have the No. 9 pick again.
"We have great options there. We like a lot of players," Sheppard said in an online press conference.
The Minnesota Timberwolves snared the No. 1 pick, while No. 2 went to the Golden State Warriors, winners of three championships between 2015 and 2018, in a development that could help them quickly return to the top of the league's pecking order.
The Wizards finished with a 25-47 win-loss record, well out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, after the season resumed inside the NBA's Orlando "bubble" following a roughly five-month break prompted by the pandemic.
Hachimura's progress was a bright spark for the Wizards, who were without franchise point guard John Wall the entire season due to injury.
In his rookie season, Hachimura averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds on 46.6 percent shooting from the field. Per NBA.com, he led all eligible rookies in rebounds per game and was fifth in scoring on the season. He also led all rookies with 18 games of 10-plus points and seven or more rebounds.
