Grizzlies Send Thabeet and Hudson to D-League

Less than one year after being drafted number #2 overall in the NBA Draft, Grizzlies center Hasheem Thabeet has been shipped to the Dakota Wizards of the D-League. The move is not official yet, but has been confirmed by sources close to the situation. If official, Thabeet will be the highest draft pick to ever be assigned to the D-League. Portland's Martell Webster, the #6 overall pick in the 2005 Draft, previously held the record. Ridiculous Upside, a D-League blog that first broke the story, is reporting that guard Lester Hudson will also be shipped to the Wizards.

Although Thabeet has shown flashes of defensive prowess throughout his rookie season, he has failed to develop a reliable offensive game. He has averaged just 2.5 points per game while playing 10.5 minutes. Despite logging significant minutes for most of the season, Thabeet saw his minutes dip over the month of February. He had played just 18 total minutes over the last 8 games.

Center Hamed Haddadi, who began the season third on the depth chart, had been receiving the bulk of Thabeet's minutes over the last two weeks and has replaced Thabeet as the backup to center Marc Gasol. After averaging around 2 minutes per game for most of the season, Haddadi has played over 11 minutes in each of the Grizzlies' past three games.

What does this mean for the young Thabeet? Well, it is not exactly a sign of good faith by the front office. This must be a tremendous blow to the Tanzanian, who is still learning the game after playing just three seasons at Georgetown. However, I think this will prove beneficial to Thabeet in the long run. He will have the chance to hone his offensive skills (and refine his defensive ones) against lesser competition and, hopefully, emerge from his D-League stint as a much stronger player ready to live up to his big NBA expectations.

Go Hasheem, Lester, and the Grizzlies!

Owen