Oklahoma City Thunder sign former number 2 Draft pick Hasheem Thabeet – NBA News
NBA Finalists, Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed upon a 2 year contract with centre Hasheem Thabeet.
Thabeet will get a fully guaranteed minimum level deal that will have him earning $880,000 per year. He was the 2nd overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft but has become one of the biggest busts since his arrival to the
NBA stage.
The 7 ft 3 in big man has a great height and size advantage, along with a huge wingspan, but has been unable to utilize it in the NBA. Next season, he will enter his 4th year in the NBA and will be playing for his fourth
team in the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Thabeet has played 135 career games so far and averages a meagre 2.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots.
The decision by Thunder to hire his services therefore might come as a surprise to some people, however, from a team balance point of view, this deal makes a great deal of sense.
The Thunder have at present two big men in Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka. They are also pleased with the performance of reserve centre Cole Aldrich and are looking to include him in their regular rotation from next season onwards.
In Thabeet, they get a guy who can take over the reserve centre position from Aldrich and give the Thunder an extra option on the frontcourt.
He has a huge size advantage and some work and coaching could bring out a great rebounder and shot blocker in him. Plus, the Thunder are getting him at a cheap price. Any other veteran centre would have cost them around $2 to
3 million while Thabeet is costing them under $1 million. He is only 25 years of age which means that he has the ability to improve his game and become a valuable asset to the Thunder team in a role playing capacity.
The Thunder will also be looking forward to working with Thabeet in an attempt to improve his defensive game so that he can contribute on the glass, a facet of the game in which they lacked in last month’s NBA Finals against the
Miami Heat. And at the price tag he is coming in for, he will be a good addition to the Thunder bench.
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