Detroit Pistons Waive Former No. 2 Overall Pick Hasheem Thabeet
By Bryan Rose
The Detroit Pistons have waived Hasheem Thabeet, the No. 2 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
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Might this be the end of the road for Hasheem Thabeet, the second overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft?
Thabeet was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies who passed on talent like Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, Stephen Curry and James Harden as they fell in love with Thabeet’s seven-foot frame. And while you can’t teach size, you apparently can’t teach fundamentals to those who lack the ability to learn such as Hasheem Thabeet has proven himself to be one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory.
Still given his size there are teams always willing to take a risk and the Detroit Pistons seeing an opportunity brought Thabeet into camp. Sadly it didn’t work out however as the Pistons waived the former UConn product on Monday morning.
Pistons announce waiving of 4 players: Brian Cook, Hasheem Thabeet, Lorenzo Brown, Josh Bostic. All were camp invitees, non-guaranteed deals
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) October 20, 2014
A two-time Defensive Player of the Year in college, Hasheem Thabeet had many believing he could translate his collegiate success to the NBA level though that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
During his five-year NBA career, Thabeet has averaged 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game. He has bounced around from team to team as well and was hoping he would be able to stay with the Pistons, who simply didn’t have room for him on their roster.
It seems very obvious that Hasheem Thabeet simply doesn’t have the skills needed to play at the NBA level for any extended period, so his best opportunity may be abroad or possibly in the NBDL. He’ll continue to seek out another job with an NBA team though it doesn’t seem as if his phone will be ringing off the hook.
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