Chris Andersen: 3 Potential Replacements For The Cleveland Cavaliers

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Apr 19, 2014; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Hasheem Thabeet (34) fouls Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph (50) on a shot attempt during the second quarter in game one during the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Hasheem Thabeet

Hasheem Thabeet is a former second overall pick who has had his moments in the NBA but never put it all together. The biggest question about the big man? His work ethic.

Two months ago, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders pondered the same question I’m pondering now. Can Thabeet salvage his NBA career?

He’ll be 30-years-old next February and hasn’t played at the NBA level since the 2013-2014 NBA season. That season, Thabeet averaged 1.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and .4 blocks in 8.3 minutes per game in 23 contests.

Those aren’t numbers to get anyone excited.

However, if Kennedy gets to tell the tale, and he did, Sanders’ career is very salvageable.

Thabeet, who is 7-foot-3 and has a 7-foot-6 wingspan, 9-foot-6 standing reach and 34-inch max vertical jump, averaged 13.6 points while shooting 64 percent from the field, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocks in his final season at the University of Connecticut. Per 36 minutes, Thabeet averaged 8.5 points while shooting 58.8 percent from the field, 9.9 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game in his first season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

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Those same Grizzlies who had Marc Gasol starting his sophomore season. There aren’t many excuses to give Thabeet, however, he wasn’t placed in a position to be as effective as possible at the start of the season after the team also acquired Zach Randolph. Regressing in his second season behind inefficiency, a lack of aggression and swings in the effectiveness of his play (otherwise known as a sophomore slum), Thabeet was sent to the Houston Rockets in just his second season and was the last player on the bench for a team that had centers Yao Ming and Brad Miller.

Then he was shipped off to the Portland Trail Blazers and was hard-pressed to find playing time behind their bevy of established big man. After that, he was finally sent off to the Oklahoma City Thunder and produced in limited time but after Steven Adams was drafted with the Thunder;s twelfth overall pick, it was back to the chopping block for Thabeet.

To make matters worse, in the time he’d been gone the NBA entered a new era defined by spacing, shooting, versatility and mobility. Traditional centers who lacked the ability to guard on the perimeter or shoot were all but extinct.

In Basketball Insiders piece on Thabeet, it was revealed that Thabeet has worked on his both his fundamentals, shooting and understanding of the game while working alongside famed trainer Frank Matrisciano and former NBA executive Milt Newton. A career 57.8 percent shooter, Matrisciano had gotten Thabeet shooting free throws at 84 percent. Thabeet had also worked on mastering signature moves of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olujawon and Danny Manning.

Unbeknownst to many, Thabeet even worked out for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards this summer and they were all impressed.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are another team that may took a look at Thabeet’s frame and see a player who can be a potentially dominant rim-protector. Though he won’t start in front of Tristan Thompson and may not even play every game for the Cavs, he’d still be a valuable part of the roster and valuable depth.