Thomas Robinson was supposed to be the most “NBA-ready” player in last year’s draft. I took those people at their word because I don’t pay attention to college basketball, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that the people who are paid a huge amount of money to evaluate basketball talent are totally unsuited for the job. The NBA should institute a new rule: if a team drafts a huge bust, the entire front office gets fired and they can never work for an NBA team again. Then teams would actually draft players who can contribute, as opposed to “projects” who, more often than not, turn out worse than the so-called “low upside” guys.
So, Thomas Robinson wasn’t NBA-ready when he got to the Kings. Is he NBA-ready now? Sort of. He’s more NBA-ready than Fab Melo. He doesn’t have much of an offensive game right now, he’s turnover prone, and he doesn’t have a position, but at least he can score when he gets it near the basket. Is he a “project”? Hopefully, because if he’s done improving, he gets the big ol’ BUST label affixed permanently to his chest.