Is it worth it to get Thabeet some extended run?

[james3921]

From his NBAdraft.net profile:

NBA Comparison: Dikembe Mutombo. Jim Calhoun called Thabeet “one of the most dominant players in the history of college basketball,” and it’s hard to disagree … Had Thabeet returned for his senior year, he likely would have broken the NCAA career-record for blocked shots (he left UConn 118 behind the all-time leader, Wojciech Mydra of Louisiana-Monroe)… Averaged 4.5 blocks per game as a junior, but altered about eight or nine more … Has impeccable timing and athleticism for someone 7-foot-3 … Is extremely mobile for someone his size. Often beats guards down the court … Jumpshot improved considerably in his three years at UConn. Towards the end of his junior year, Thabeet began to take—and make—12-15 foot jumpshots within the offense … Has a soft touch and a good stroke. With some polishing, there’s reason to believe Thabeet can be a consistent mid-range shooter at the next level … Shot just 63 percent from the free throw line, but shoots it with confidence and an excellent motion for a bigman and should be able to increase that number to the mid-to-high 70s throughout his career … Has a good nose for the ball on the boards … Tremendous lateral quickness for a player his size. Can guard smaller players out to the 3-point line … Is a bit stronger than he appears. Overall, Thabeet has a scary combination of size and athleticism that doesn’t come along often … Upside is tremendous.

I wonder what the deal is. Obviously he hasn't lived up to his potential, but maybe there's something there to gain by giving him a good, hard look?

 

[Natebishop3]

The guy is just terrible... not sure why, but he is a bigger bust than Oden.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Is it worth what?

What could it possibly hurt?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Sure, let him play


Tank! Tank! Tank!

 

[james3921]

Is it worth what?

What could it possibly hurt?

That's kind of my thought. Isn't it kind of worthless to be starting Joel? We know who he is. However, Thabeet has still never gotten any meaningful run in any game this season, for Houston or Portland. Isn't this the ideal time to at least see if he's worth a bench spot next year? I get that he's supposed to be lazy or whatever people say about him, but I'm still curious. 7'3 and athletic is extemely rare. He has to be at least as good as Chris Johnson, right?

 

[jlprk]

Find out whether the anonymous Grizzlies asst. coach was right. Tell the big man to do something in the weight room, leave, then ask guys in there whether he sluffed off when the coaches weren't looking.

 

[jlprk]

Speaking of lazy centers, Joel came out of his unforced vacation/retirement playing with his kids and picked the system he already knew over elite contenders in Miami and Chicago.

 

[mook]

Meh, we don't have his rights. If he looks even remotely adequate, somebody else will snag him in the summer, since even remotely adequate guys with his size get paid. If he doesn't look adequate, it was a waste of minutes.

Joel may be a known entity, but Babbit isn't (much to my own surprise). Joel can set screens for Babbit, giving Babbit the kind of opportunities to demonstrate more of his potential. And that's just Joel/Babbit. All of our younger players have more chance to show potential by playing more minutes with guys who are actually at least mediocre.

Besides, in the unlikely event Thabeet looks decent in practice, our management are the only ones who know it. So it'll make him that much cheaper to re-sign.

 

[Pinwheel1]

I agree with the "it can't hurt" crowd. But don't put him in with all young players, play him with the Vets.

 

[Sinobas]

Next year, he has a "team option" right? And it's 6.5 mil. He'd have to look VERY good for Portland to match that. And since we're not even looking, I'd say he's a goner. I wonder why they gave up on Chris Johnson though....they should have cut Craig Smith or Kurt Thomas.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Next year, he has a "team option" right? And it's 6.5 mil. He'd have to look VERY good for Portland to match that. And since we're not even looking, I'd say he's a goner. I wonder why they gave up on Chris Johnson though....they should have cut Craig Smith or Kurt Thomas.

Nope. Completely unrestricted free agent.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

The league has seen enough of him. He's likely on his way to an underwhelming European career. His ceiling is being cut late during NBA training camps and maybe getting some garbage minutes at Fan Fest. Been nice knowing him.

 

[Pinwheel1]

The league has seen enough of him. He's likely on his way to an underwhelming European career. His ceiling is being cut late during NBA training camps and maybe getting some garbage minutes at Fan Fest. Been nice knowing him.

If the work ethic is really as bad as rumored then you are probably right. But it only takes one person to turn him around. He has the size, and the athleticism, nice soft touch from 15 feet out (based only on the two free throws I saw him easily make ) and was the two time big East defensive player of the year........You think with a little work he could improve enough to make a rotation. Very Puzzling. Isn't connecting with young players Canales' fortei? He has a month.

 

[jaspitzer]

I think he needs to start now and we should keep him.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I think he needs to start now and we should keep him.

Keep him for what, spare pare parts for the next center we draft?

 

[jaspitzer]

Keep him for what, spare pare parts for the next center we draft?

You can't tell me you don't think if he hit the gym and worked hard he wouldn't be at the very least as good as Pryzbilla. He's 7'3, he'll at least be an asset on defensive... oh look at that he blocked paul's shot just now, mathews fouled though

 

[Nikolokolus]

You can't tell me you don't think if he hit the gym and worked hard he wouldn't be at the very least as good as Pryzbilla. He's 7'3, he'll at least be an asset on defensive... oh look at that he blocked paul's shot just now, mathews fouled though

No I don't think so.

 

[STOMP]

it surprised me how well he moved & overall decent he looked tonight. He was getting called for nonsense left and right, especially his 3rd and 4th fouls, but color me intrigued

STOMP

 

[jaspitzer]

Do you think he has any potential?

 

[jlprk]

I think he had 2 fouls in 2 minutes, went out, then had 2 fouls in 2 minutes, went out, then later in the game had 0 fouls in 4 minutes. I say play him all the minutes we can.

 

[WillG]

I hope we keep Thabeet as a work in progress type of player.
The guy looks athletic and is 7'3.

Surely they can make some sort of defensive presence off of the bench with him??

 

[Rhal]

I'v always looked at him like Roy Hibbert. A center with good size and athleticism but uncoordinated and needs to put on weight. He needs someone to constantly work with him and bring out a drive in him. He is going to need a lot of work and still might not succeed. I'd give him a 3 year 6 to 7 mill deal and attempt to hire a big man coach to constantly work with him.

 

[WillG]

You can see that unco-ordination with his fouls, and yet, he was a defensive juggernaut at college.

Perhaps like Babbit initially, he still has a bit of deer in headlights adjusting to NBA level play, and needs to find his moxy?

 

[Rhal]

You can see that unco-ordination with his fouls, and yet, he was a defensive juggernaut at college.

Perhaps like Babbit initially, he still has a bit of deer in headlights adjusting to NBA level play, and needs to find his moxy?

A lot of it is that they let you be a lot more physical in college and your not dealing with players who are at the peek of there profession.

 

[C_note]

He's worthless. Not smart enough to play in the NBA (and that's somethin').

Case in point; he was the #2 draft pick and failed to put any work/effort into his craft whatsoever.

 

[Denny Crane]

I fell asleep after the 3rd quarter, but I did like what I saw in Thabeet. He did draw a lot of fouls, but that's common for guys who haven't played a lot of NBA minutes. He reminds me of Asik as a rookie. You can play the guy as a backup C, but you have to have a coach that will coach him (and the rest of the team) during games. You can hear Thibodeau screaming at Asik and the other players during games, especially on defense. Maybe Thabeet has a decent ceiling on the offensive end as well.

His real problem was being drafted #2 as a project. He is a rookie scale contract that eats a bunch of cap space. And there is a lot of expectations, even for a project, out of a #2 pick.

 

[C_note]

7'3 and 1 rebound, 4 fouls in 8 minutes? Worthless.

 

[Natebishop3]

A lot of people thought Joel Przybilla was worthless until he signed here. He had a lot of problems with fouls as well. If the guy could be retained cheaply, I'd keep him around.

 

[jaspitzer]

I think there's something to salvage. We should play him as much as possible the rest of the season, it should give him some confidence and if he sucks, well then maybe we increase our draft position. In the offseason sign him to the cheapest contract we can for maybe 2-3 yrs and hire an offensive lineman nutrition specialist to beef the dude up and send a guy like bayno to work with him every day. By the start of next season hopefully we have a beefed up 7'3 center with a better work ethic and some confidence. Realistically, he probably won't pan out, but he's not going to eat up a ton of cap space and even if there is a small chance we can turn his potential into a legit NBA starting center I don't see why the organization wouldn't take that chance. It's not like we have an abundance of 7'3 athletic centers to fill in for him. And there really isn't much of an opportunity lost by doing this. Is this really that bad of an idea to you guys? We've wasted a lot more money on players that don't have his type of upside

 

[Natebishop3]

Somebody is going to give him another shot. I'd rather see him here than somewhere else.