Hasheem Tha-bust

Really, the only surprise attached to this move is that it took so long to happen. Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies have decided to ship the No. 2 pick in the draft off to the NBADL — the highest pick to ever grace a developmental roster.

You could have seen this story play out from the beginning: Hasheem Thabeet just isn’t cut out to be a dominant NBA big man. When you’re termed a “long-term project,” it usually doesn’t end well. Picks taken in the top five of the draft shouldn’t need to develop to make an impact, they should be able to step into the lineup and at least hold their own. In posting 2.5 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game and averaging around 10 minutes, Thabeet showed that he’s not capable of holding his own against the big dogs.

This move really shows how badly the Grizzlies botched the draft. Had they been smart enough to realize Thabeet’s bust quotient, they might have smartly passed and grabbed Ricky Rubio (who more than likely would have come to the NBA for the bigger contract he would have received). Think about how well the Grizz are playing and figure in the lack of impact they received from the No. 2 overall pick and you really wonder how much better they could be had that selection panned out, even at an average output from the new rookie.

Now, the real shame of this all is that it breaks up the most international centre depth chart out there. While Thabeet is from Tanzania, starter Marc Gasol is from Spain and backup Hamed Haddadi is the first NBA player from Iran. At least now we get to see how a man from Tanzania will adapt to living in North Dakota.