T-Rob Pros- To get an idea of how happy Rockets fans should be over yesterday’s trade that brought Thomas Robinson to town, look no further than the sadness of Kings fans. From ARoyalPain.com:
All in all – it’s a pretty disgusting below the belt punch from the Maloof family, who already had King fans on the ropes. Don’t get me wrong – Patterson is a very solid player who King fans will grow to love (hopefully long term, if the Kings are to remain) – but the Kings are the clear loser in this deal – the price too steep to pay.
Sentiments are similar at Sactown Royalty:
On a personal note, I am livid about this trade. It seems the Maloofs and Petrie found a way to stick it to Kings fans at least one more time.
And then there’s this nugget from the city’s flagship publication, the Sacramento Bee:
Robinson was the fifth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The Kings were ecstatic to select him as they had him rated No. 2 on their draft board.
And finally, here’s some of what John Hollinger’s player profile (ESPN Insider) said about Robinson at the start of the season:
Robinson also has some skill to get shots at the basket, especially posting up or making quick moves off the dribble. He is a bit short for a 4 and shot only 50 percent on 2s, an indication that he may have some issues finishing against size. Similarly, his other stats are more solid than great.
Still, he’s such an overwhelming force on the glass that he almost can’t help but be a productive NBA power forward, and he is athletic enough that his game may evolve in several directions.
After the break: the cons.
T-Rob Cons – Let’s just come right out with it: 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds with a measly 10.88 PER is not a good look for the 5th overall pick, especially when he was considered one of the most pro-ready prospects in the draft. Back in December, David Thorpe wrote:
Robinson has almost the same problem as “Mr. Dropsies” (Festus Ezeli), earning himself the nickname “Mr. Oops,” as he’s turning the ball over more often per possession than Ezeli. While Robinson does drop the occasional pass, his mistakes are mostly coming from trying to be LeBron James, Chris Paul and Joakim Noah. One-man fast breaks, trying to thread the needle on tough passes or just trying to outmaneuver a defender while he’s running full speed are all things he might be able to do one day, but those days are far into the future.
Also, his 45% True Shooting percentage suggests that maybe Hollinger was right about Robinson’s struggle to score against size. While I was hoping to see that trend fading as the season has worn on, he is only hitting 32.4% from the field in 7 games this month, down from some promising January numbers. Hopefully we can chalk this up to typical Sacramento dysfunction.
MVP – Of course, the truth is, it doesn’t matter what Thomas Robinson does when you have a man who scores 46 points while doing this:
Tweet That: Trade Edition -
Tweet That: Signature Win Edition -
StatCheck - James Harden is averaging 27.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2 steals and .17 blocks per game in February. Kevin Durant is averaging 26.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.71 steals and 1.29 blocks over that same span.
However, if I was a betting man, I would bet that Durant is shooting a higher percentage this month. And I would lose. He’s shooting 51.8% compared to Harden’s 53.1%. Fear the Beard.
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