Willy Hernangómez will be a Barça player

He Real Madrid, who had the right of first refusal, did not match the Barca offer

The Barcelona group has done official the signing of the Spanish pivot, who arrives to reinforce the inside game of the Roger Grimau

the post era Sarunas Jasikevicius is taking shape at the Palau Blaugrana. The traumatic departure of the Lithuanian idol, together with that of Nikola Mirotic, seemed very difficult to correct. However, Juan Carlos Navarro, sports director of the basketball section, is determined to judiciously invest the money saved from the Baltic and Montenegrin casualties. With Joel Parra, official and presentedthe ‘Bomb’ is ready to detonate the market.

The second to arrive is a true European champion and NBA player like Willy Hernangómez. Barcelona presented a formal offer for the Spanish ‘5’ and Real Madrid, which had the right of first refusal in Spain, decided on Wednesday not to go to the market for the eldest of the Hernangómez brothers.

“Barça has presented this Friday, July 7, an offer to the ACB for the Spanish center Willy Hernangómez, 29 years old and 2.11m, of which Real Madrid has the right of first refusal. Now Madrid has until July 12 at 11:59 p.m. to match the offer presented by Barça. If not, Willy Hernangómez will become a Barça player“, pointed out the statement from FC Barcelona the day it announced the presentation of the formal offer for Willy.

Finally, after midnight on the 13th, Barça and the ACB officially announced the arrival of Willy.

[𝐔́𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐀]

Willy Hernangómez, culer fins to 2026! 💙❤

— Barça Basket (@FCBbasket) July 12, 2023

“Barça and Willy Hernangómez will be able to sign a contract, once the term that Real Madrid had to match the blaugrana offer, subject to the right of first refusal,” said the ACB statement.

Barça’s offer for Willy would be 4.2 million gross per year with a contract three seasons, until 2026.

In the last few hours, the pivot had already made some statements that could make him intuit his future. “I am from the Real Madrid youth system, but in the end I want to play and feel important. Fighting for Titles. I don’t close doors to anything. It is a winning team and champion… In the end it is a job. An opportunity. And if the circumstancesit would be necessary to think about it a lot”, said the ‘MVP’ of the last Eurobasket.

Barça’s statement

Willy Hernangómez will be a Barça player until June 30, 2026. The Club, which had submitted a qualified offer to the ACB, due to the fact that the player was subject to the right of first refusal, had to wait until midnight to find out if Real Madrid, a club that had its rights in the Endesa League, had matched the offer. If this is not the case, Willy is, for all intents and purposes, a Barça player.

Sevilla, his great explosion as a player

29 years old and 211 centimeters tall, Guillermo Gustavo “Willy” Hernangómez is a player trained in the lower categories of Real Madrid, a club that he left in the 2016/17 season when he began his NBA adventure. Drafted in 2015 by the Philadelphia 76ers, in the United States he has played in the New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans franchises.

Before his American adventure, however, and after spending a first year in the ACB with Real Madrid, he went on loan to the former Club Baloncesto Sevilla, where he coincided with the now also Barça player, Tomas Satoransky. In Andalusia, Hernangómez made a name for himself in a young team in which the now Barça point guard, also NBA player, Kristaps Porzingis and Aíto García Reneses stood out as coach.

their numbers

The two seasons in Seville and the last one he played for Real Madrid served to confirm that he had the potential to play against the best centers in the world. After 111 games played in the ACB, Willy decided to cross the Atlantic.

He has spent a total of seven seasons in the NBA. He played a total of 344 games, with these average minutes, points and rebounds (14.5 minutes, 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds). His best seasons, numbers in hand, were the first in New York (72 games played; 18.4 minutes; 8.2 points and 7 rebounds) and the second in New Orleans (50 games played; 16.8 minutes; 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds).

MVP of the last Eurobasket

With the Spanish team, his role has gone from less to more over the years. The absences, first of Pau Gasol and, later, of his brother Marc, gave him the opportunity to be the starting center in the last Eurobasket. He knew how to take advantage of it perfectly. Spain was proclaimed champion and he was designated MVP of the tournament, with 9 games played (22.4 minutes; 17.2 points; 6.9 rebounds).

The overall numbers with the Spanish team are 84 games played (14.29 minutes; 9.5 points; 4.5 rebounds).

Palmares with the Spanish team

Gold in the World Cup in China (2019)

Gold in the Eurobasket of France (2015)

Gold in the Eurobasket in Germany (2022)

Bronze at the Rio Olympics (2016)

Bronze in the Eurobasket of Türkiye (2017)