Gone In 60 Seconds: Thabeet Is a Legit Primary Bust Candidate

It may be way too early but what we saw out of Hasheem Thabeet gives us a lot think about.

After he proclaimed himself as "The Dream" on twitter - the 7-3, 263 lbs. center does not very much look like the original "Dream" who led the Rockets to two consecutive titles in the NBA. Thabeet looks more like another Grizzlies center - the 7-2, 254 lbs. Hamed Haddadi. 

Hasheem - the number 2 in this year's draft - was chosen before the likes of Tyreke Evans and James Harden in order to lock the Mephis Center position and provide tough D and shot blocking. While the first show the potential to be a mix between DWade and Lebron and the second one can soon be providing stats similar to those of Manu Ginobili and Brandon Roy - Thabeet provided - well - nothing.

The former UCon Husky has produced some "dream" stats over the first 5 summer games he started:

Season	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
2009	MEM	5	5	25.0	.452	.000	.722	2.2	2.4	4.6	0.4	0.2	0.8	2.00	5.00	8.2

In those games he "backed up" the  rumors of his "monster D" with the "stunning" averages of 4.6 Rebounds,  0.2 Steals, 0.8 Blocks and 5 personal fouls in 25 minutes on the court. For everyone - it is clear that he will not be averaging 20 ppg (and no one expects that) - but where does his great D actually is? 

Compare him with the undrafted center Hamed Haddadi and try to tell me who the second pick in the NBA Draft was. Haddadi managed to post the

Season	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
2009	MEM	5	0	12.4	.444	.000	.600	1.4	3.0	4.4	0.6	0.6	1.6	1.20	1.00	4.4

  

So in half the playing time of Thabeet - the Iranian Big Man averaged 4.4 rebound, 0.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game with only 1 personal foul per.

Project that in the 25 minute average of Hasheem and you will get a guy with 8.8 rpg, 1.2 spg and the impressive 3.2 bpg and commiting only 2 personal fouls per. Given that - can someone, please - let me know why the hell the Grizzlies need to sacrifice the second pick to get someone who is worse than their current backup center?

Life looks even harder for Thabeen as he sees his arch rival DeJuan Blair posting 16.3 PPG and 8.7 RPG in the same 25 minutes per.

So - Hasheem - no hard feeling but if you do not want to be gone from the league in 60 seconds - you better do something. Otherwise - the "Dream" will remain only on your twitter and you will be more of a "Tha-bust".