According to multiple sources close to the situation, the Memphis Grizzlies will assign second overall draft pick Hasheem Thabeet to the D-League's Dakota Wizards, along with rookie guard Lester Hudson, on Friday.
Thabeet will become the highest ever draft pick assigned to the D-League, a dubious record previous held by Martell Webster, who was assigned to the Fort Worth Flyers from the Portland Blazers as the sixth overall pick in 2006.
The 7-foot-3 Thabeet was drafted as a shot-blocking specialist with high hopes that he could be one of the premiere defensive big men in the NBA after a career at the University of Connecticut that saw him average 10.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and an astounding 4.2 blocks per game. Fifty games into his NBA career, however, Thabeet has shown to be all to raw for the NBA, scoring less than three points and three rebounds while averaging 10 minutes of playing time.
The writing on the wall seems to have finally come on Tuesday, when Hamed Haddadi was moved ahead of Thabeet on Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins depth chart. According to SBNation Grizzlies blog Straight Outta Vancouver, "Haddadi fits the system better, since his tough rebounding and excellent, albeit raw, passing skills are closer to Marc Gasol's style of play than anything Hasheem Thabeet has done all season."
The Dakota Wizards will play seven games in the next 13 days before having a week off, leaving me to assume that Thabeet would be recalled at that time.
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