Friday, February 26, 2010
Relegislating the Thabeet Pick
Posted by Chris Herrington on Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 3:16 PM
- The Thabeet pick: Plenty of blame to go around.
But the story of the day for the Grizzlies isn't tonight's game or even the team's weakening grasp on the playoff race. It's the assignment of #2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet to the NBA Developmental League's Dakota Wizards, with whom he's scheduled to play tonight.
This latest turn in what has been a disappointing rookie season for Thabeet has spurred another look at how the team came to draft Thabeet. (A pick that, it should be noted, was fairly widely questioned locally but not particularly denigrated around the country, with the Grizzlies getting pretty good "draft grades" from most national sites.)
The media narrative that has emerged around the pick goes something like this: That General Manager Chris Wallace preferred Tyreke Evans at #2. Player Personnel Director Tony Barone Sr. favored Thabeet. Scouting Director Tony Barone Jr. was pushing Stephen Curry. And Assistant General Manager Kenny Williamson and Head Coach Lionel Hollins were either leaning Curry or not pushing hard for anyone in particular, depending on which account you believe.
Based on what I know, I'd say that narrative is reasonably accurate, but also somewhat misleading. In assigning one — and only one — favored prospect to each of the team's decision makers, the narrative gives the false impression of all-or-nothing conflict over the pick. For instance, I don’t think anyone in the local media knows with absolute certainty that Chris Wallace would have taken Evans if left alone to make the pick. I know he liked Evans very much and suspect he had Evans atop his personal list. I also believe that he liked both Thabeet and James Harden. (On Curry, I'm not sure.) Similarly, while others in the room may have had a preference for one player or another, that doesn't mean they were outwardly opposed to other picks.
In the end, with the team warned off Ricky Rubio, and no good trade offers on the table for moving off the pick, it seems the decision came down to three players: Thabeet, Evans, and Curry. With Evans and Curry playing so well this season, it's easy to forget the real questions surrounding both players prior to the draft. With Evans, there was a concern about his need to dominate the ball and how that would fit in a backcourt with either Mike Conley or O.J. Mayo. With Curry — whom few outside the Griz draft room ever took seriously as a potential #2 pick — there was a question about adding another small guard to what was already an undersized backcourt. (Harden doesn't seem to have been as seriously considered, likely because drafting him would have necessitated developing Mayo more as a point guard, something the coaching staff has been very reluctant to do. Also, Harden had a particularly shaky workout with the team.) And so, with legitimate questions about all of the guards under consideration, Thabeet emerged as the closest thing to a consensus pick in the room.
Of course, there was another person involved in this decision, and that's majority owner Michael Heisley, who has made it clear that he's the ultimate decision maker on all major transactions. ESPN.com's Chad Ford reported immediately after last summer's draft-lottery drawing that the Grizzlies were likely to take Thabeet, with Heisley pushing him over the objections of the basketball staff. I did not then and do not now think that's entirely accurate, but I do think Heisley's instinct all along was to take Thabeet.
One media assertion, courtesy of Commercial Appeal beat writer Ron Tillery, is that Barone Sr. "talked Heisley into" taking Thabeet. I think it's fair to implicate Barone Sr. in the Thabeet pick, as I do believe he was the biggest Thabeet booster among the top decision-makers. But I think the suggestion that Barone Sr. convinced Heisley to select Thabeet is probably too strong; it suggests that someone else was making a strong case against the Thabeet pick, and I haven't seen any indication that that's the case. My understanding is that Heisley didn't need to be talked "into" taking Thabeet, but rather that he would have needed to be talked "out of" taking him. Thabeet was going to be Heisley's pick unless persuaded otherwise. With no strong consensus forming around any of the guards, that never happened.
My biggest problem with the pick was that it was rooted in a misguided assessment of the roster — underrating Marc Gasol as a starting center going forward and underrating the need for more backcourt help even if Mike Conley had fully panned out.
But I didn't think that Thabeet couldn't be a significant player. I still don't think that. His shot-blocking is legitimate. He's rebounded better than his college production indicated. He's athletic enough to be an offense threat as a finisher around the basket even without a post game or a jumper. He was a bad pick at #2 and a bad pick specifically for the Grizzlies. A little bit lower in the lottery for a team needing a center, he would have been a very reasonable pick.
The key for Thabeet is the work ethic and desire to get better, and his performance this season raises serious questions on those fronts. Hopefully getting sent to the D League will wake him up a little. And hopefully the presumably significant game action will be helpful.
I like what True Hoop had to say today about the assignment. There shouldn't be a stigma about sending a player to the developmental league. That's what it's for. I'd like to see it used more by NBA teams and expanded into something more like a true minor league.
Comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
Great inside info. Chris.
The mistake has been made but my question is what happens next. Any word on what is the focus for his assignment? Will he be working on specifics like catching the ball better, foot work or just getting some playing time? The grizz are stuck with him for at least 1 or 2 more years so I hope he v
can develop enough to offer some help in the future.
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What I don't understand is, why would you pick a player that won't be able to contribute until his rookie contract is up? Especially a #2 lottery pick.
After tonight's game, I can think of a number of players on the current roster who should be sent down to the D league. They need to be reminded that they can never take their NBA careers for granted. Maybe then they will play with some semblance of desire to win a game.... because all I saw tonight was a Charlotte team that wanted it more.
This may be the beginning of the end for me for this Grizzlies team...
I am not ready to give up on Thabeet. He has shown flashes of brilliance, and it is curious that the more chances he is given to succeed the more he fails. He seems to be immature emotionally so maybe the D-League will be a wake up call for him. But I would also check him for ADD. An inability to focus is deadly in the NBA and if there is a psychological component to Thabeet's failures it should be explored. I always wondered if Stromile had issues more than a low basketball IQ. He obviously had skills but was wildly inconsistent and unreliable. Too often athletes have enough skill to mask or overcome more ingrained shortcomings, but the Grizz need to offer support to their players on all levels.
I am not sure if I agree with the statement that the biggest problem with the pick was a misguided assessment of the roster. First, if the goal is to have a team that is competitive in the playoffs, I don't think the Grizzlies had enough talent going into the draft to worry that much about roster construction. Second, the Grizzlies still needed to dramatically improve their defense and get frontcourt help, even if the Randolph trade was already in the pipeline and even if Marc Gasol fully panned out. They are last in the NBA in giving up baskets at the rim and are 23rd in defensive efficiency.
Since we are being retrospective, I wonder what would have happened if they had never made the Love and Miller for Mayo trade. Love seems like he is going to be a better version of Zach Randolph, they would have had a clear need for help in the backcourt going into last years draft, and they would have a couple of expiring contracts and a pretty good cap situation. If the Knicks gave up Jordan Hill and a future first rounder to get rid of Jeffries, what could the Grizzlies have gotten taking Eddy Curry's contract, which isn't that much bigger than Jaric's, off of their hands last summer?
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