Thomas Robinson: Blazers Decline Option, Was It A Mistake?
The Portland Trail Blazers decided against exercising Thomas Robinson’s fourth year option for the 2015-16 season according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports on Monday. Was that the right decision?
The answer is an unequivocal yes. There is no way the Trail Blazers could justify picking up a $4.66 million option on someone who is an end of the rotation player as Robinson is. And it is not like, he hasn’t been given chances.
Robinson, who was the fifth overall player taken in the 2012 draft out of Kansas, has yet to gain traction with any of the three teams he has played for. Sacramento traded the 6’10” power forward midway through his rookie season to the Houston Rockets. Houston then shipped him to Portland in the summer of 2013 to free up cap space to sign Dwight Howard.
Robinson appeared in 70 games for the Trail Blazers last year and averaged 4.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 12 minutes of action per contest. For his career, he also averages 4.8 points and 4.4 rebounds.
As one could expect, Robinson wasn’t too happy with Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey for not exercising the option.
"“Yeah. Of course I’m disappointed. But, like I said, them not picking up my option is not something that’s going to stop me from being successful.”"
– Robinson said when asked if he was if he was disappointed by the news.
The 23-year old could very well find himself with the Trail Blazers next year just at a lower salary. He definitely possesses the potential and athleticism to be a serviceable NBA player as he demonstrated in his mammoth 14-point, 18-rebound performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves last season.
As of right now, Portland has seven players under contract for next season with the total value being $35.8 million — this includes Steve Blake‘s player option at $2.17 million
Robinson is a high-energy player who is at his best when he is running all around the court. He is a tremendous rebounder, particularly on the offensive end. However, he is somewhat limited offensively as he is most effective within 10 feet – last year 70 percent of his shots were with 10’ and he made 82 percent of those shots — and falls in love with the mid-range game too much.
Robinson is also shaky on the defensive end.