Thabeet Shuttled to the D-League
Short of being bought out by Memphis Hasheem Thabeet’s career cannot sink any lower than it did this week when he was sent to the D-League. Prior to being sent down Thabeet was offered to the Warriors in a package deal along with O. J. Mayo for Monta Ellis only to be turned down.
Honestly, I never understood why folks were so high on Thabeet to begin with. Even when the Grizzlies took him they acknowledged he was a long-term project player and had only planned to use him in a backup role this season hoping he would give them 20 minutes a game off the bench and provide some rebounding and shot blocking.
Going back to Thabeet’s last season at Connecticut one could plainly see, that while he was a nice kid, he was clearly not ready for the NBA. He was dominated in game against Pittsburgh by DeJuan Blair who is a good eight or nine inches shorter than he is. Thabeet tended to get pushed around and outplayed when matched up against some of the stronger opponents he squared off against.
Thabeet was flat out soft and showed no real post moves on offense at UConn. The few times I watched him during his junior season he blocked shots and rebounded well, but, scored the bulk of his points from the line and on the break. I will be surprised if Thabeet ever really makes it all the way back as an NBA player. He just does not have the mental chops to excel in the NBA. He is too soft and just does not have that competitive edge to be a dominant player. Simply put he will end up being his generation’s Michael Olowokandi, only he was not the #1 overall pick.
With Mike Conley continuing to struggle to make his mark in the NBA I bet the Grizzlies are kicking themselves for not taking Tyreke Evans with the second pick in the draft.
