Empty the Bench

Apologies in advance, Tim, for singling you out when others were simply listed alongside their depressing NBA peers, but the error of omitting you from ETB’s list of the NBA’s Most Depressing Players of 2008 is a wrong that must be righted.

Tim Thomas’ star has diminished to nothing more than a fading twinkle in the NBA solar system. Because of that, he not only escaped our top-10 and dishonorable mentions lists, but also the ever-watchful eyes and minds of our readers. He’s been a forgotten man in the forgotten destination known as Clipper Land, but after being involved in last week’s trade that sent him and teammate Cuttino Mobley packing for New York in exchange for Zach Randolph, Thomas is again in the headlines, albeit temporarily.

And what a sad, sad thing it is that he’s again been jettisoned, this time as nothing more than expiring-contract meat, bound to toil away on a team with no real desire to do anything more this year than to improve its chances of landing a high lottery pick next summer and to bide its time to pounce on LeBron James.

The seventh-overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft, Thomas will be making his second (and surely short-lived) stint with the Knickerbockers. As a Knick from 2003-05, he actually enjoyed one of the more offensively productive stretches of his underwhelming 12-year career, averaging 13.9 points in 95 games over 1 1/2 seasons. With NYC’s roster a little depleted, Thomas will get minutes and every opportunity to post a sub-40% field-goal percentage. Don’t be surprised if he’s chucking 4 – 6 triple tries a night, playing time allowing.

Thomas deserves credit for hanging around this long, and he’s certainly had his moments over the years, but there’s no getting around how depressing the guy has slowly but surely become. Early in his career, it was always flashes of great potential, followed by prolonged bouts of listlessness and one-dimensional contributions. He’s never offered much in the way of peripheral stats–career averages of 4.2 boards, 1.6 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.4 blocks (at 6-10), and 36% for threes–and his career scoring of 11.8 isn’t so hot either. Over 12 seasons he’s never been healthy enough to play in all 82-regular season games, and is now on his fourth team since leaving the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer of ‘04.

All of this from a guy Ray Allen once said “could be the best player in the league.” That, dear friends, is downright depressing.

Related Reading:
- The NBA’s Most Depressing Players of 2008

Tim Thomas Photo Credit: Icon SMI