On draft day in 2006, the Bulls picked LMA #2 and then immediately traded him to Portland for Tyrus Thomas and some guy who isn't in the league anymore. The Bulls were thinking that Thomas' upside was much higher and that he'd eventually be the better player. It's 3 years later and how is it panning out? Aldridge is 23, Thomas is 22. Per 36 minutes: LMA 81 games, 81 started (37.1 MPG), 48.4% FG, 78% FT (4/game), 7.3 RPG, 1.9 APG, .9 SPG, .9 BPG, 17.6 PPG, 19.1 PER Thomas 79 games, 61 started (27.5 MPG), 45.1% FG, 78.3% FT (5/game), 8.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 2.5 BPG, 14.2 PPG, 15.9 PER
I always thought TT would be a good player at some point, but I am ecstatic that we ended up with Aldridge. I was at the time also.
...Ty.Thomas is starting to come into his own [he was a hell of a FA pickup in my fantasy league late last year]
Thomas isn't a bad player. He's become the yin to Outlaw's yang...a player who can be inconsistently great on one end of the floor but is really nothing special on the other end of the floor. It's defense for Thomas and offense for Outlaw. Combine their good qualities and you have quite a player. Maybe even a player almost as good as Aldridge!
Good find Denny. Looks like Thomas is improving. I think we've yet to see how good either of these players can become. Glad though, that we ended up with LaMarcus.
I don't understand why the stats compared are PER 36. Thomas doesn't get the minutes because he's just not that good, and to extrapolate his stats for that PT is a false representation of his abilities.
...was not implying otherwise just saying, TT is finally starting to become the player he was "hyped" to be.
It's info you guys can use when factoring in the Hinrich/Thomas type trades. Thomas was playing terrible for the first 25 games or more. His FG% was below 30%, and he sure seems like a bonehead. Then he got a lot of burn in the starting lineup and he certainly contributed some to the Bulls late surge to make the playoffs. His season peaked in the playoffs against Boston when he nailed 3 or 4 outside shots during crunch time. He's got the PF job to lose, it seems. The Bulls have the equivalent of the college football option play with him. They can play him this season and see if he does start to match or pass Aldridge (he's obviously not as good now). If they like what they see, they make him the QO or extend him. If not, they let him walk and gain $6.5M in cap space, enough to allow the Bulls to sign two full boat UFAs. It does look for certain that Thomas is better at stealing the ball, blocking shots, and rebounding. His turnovers kill his PER and demonstrate why he's such a bonehead. His 15.9 PER exceeded my expectations. The big question is can he make another step in improving his game, or will he outright make us regret the LMA deal as one of the worst in our team's history.
Not to say I don't like Thomas (he's a blocking machine for his size) but as far as being a "complete" player and able to produce at both ends of the court Aldridge has so far proven to be quite a bit more effective -- especially since he's counted on to be a second option, something Tyrus hasn't been either able to do or never given the opportunity to be.
I normally don't look at per minute type stats as meaningful on their own. In this case, Thomas played 27 MPG, so extrapolating to 36 isn't that much of a reach. If you want to compare their output, you have to use some common number of minutes, and 36 is what Basketball-Reference provides. Provides, for this reason. If he played 12 MPG, you'd have a point, IMO. That Thomas started 61 games means he didn't pad his stats against 2nd units (which Minstrel never accounts for when talking up Oden, FWIW).
Btw here are the actual season stats, since I thought the first post was actually that.. TT: 10.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG (1.9 OFF), 1.9 BPG, 1.0 APG LA: 18.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG (2.9 OFF), 0.9 BPG, 1.9 APG
I don't think that's very likely. Aldridge probably has a couple of all-star games in his future (provided he's still got room to improve) but Thomas could just as easily -- he's got tons of athleticism and aside from Scott Skiles the coaches he's toiled under don't exactly inspire much confidence as teachers.
That might be true, but it also means that comparing overall season stats is apples/oranges. Don't get me wrong, this whole time I've been thinking we got royally screwed in this deal, and there's no guarantee that Thomas will improve a lick from where he's at now. Though he does have a reputation of being a hard worker as well as being a bonehead.
