Memphis Grizzlies: Ranking the last 10 first-round NBA draft picks
7. Hasheem Thabeet
This is the one that hurt Grizzlies fans the most. He entered the league with expectations that towered his 7’3″ frame. Yet he left the team less than two years, one of the biggest busts in recent draft history.
Memphis drafted the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year with the second overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft. As a rookie, Thabeet demonstrated his defensive potential, blocking 1.3 shots per game.
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But he didn’t do much otherwise. He played in 68 games, starting in 13 of them. He averaged 3.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. By February of his rookie season, he had already received his first demotion to the Dakota Wizards.
Things didn’t improve during the 2010-11 season. Thabeet played in 45 games but didn’t start a single one of them. He averaged just 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Just like Carroll, who came to Memphis in the same draft as Thabeet, the big man was shipped out to Houston in the Battier trade, ending his tenure with the Grizzlies in less than two seasons. From there, Thabeet bounced around the league but hasn’t appeared in a game since the 2013-14 season.
The center spent some time this year with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the G-League but was cut by the team in January. He’s one of the biggest busts in recent history, further inciting Memphis fans who recoil at James Harden and Stephen Curry going later in the 2009 draft.