When I think of Tyrus Thomas, I think of a super-athletic guy without much focus but guzzling with potential. Since the Nuggets' three-headed monster have had a good history of making under-your-nose trades (read asdqqq's post from several days ago), and since the Nuggets have experience with this type of deal before (hint, hint, nudge nudge, JR), I am confident that they'll find some way to trick the Bulls into giving us Tyrus, just like how we traded Howard Eisley and the exclusive rights to Aaron Gray for J.R. a couple years ago.
At first, I thought that was Josh Smith in a Bulls jersey! (via sportsmaven.files.wordpress.com)
J.R. Smith towel-waving sighting! (via dunkers.110mb.com)
The pictures above brings me to a thought that I always have had: Tyrus has the tools to be a 2009-10 version of Josh Smith. It's up to him and the developing crew of the team he's on to realize it. However, since I wasn't 100% sure, I decided to head over to 82games.com and see what the stats said about him (see where this is going...?)
Before looking at the stats, I'll tell you what I know about Thomas: He's averaging 8.5 points and 6 rebounds per game in a bench role behind rookie Taj Gibson on the Bulls. When focused, he can play tough defense and bang the boards as well as getting steals and blocks Kenyon Martin-style, but when he isn't focused, he's just your average headcase. His offense isn't anything to be proud of, but if he were on the Nuggets, not much offense would be needed out of him.
Just to show that Tyrus isn't weak (via www.slamonline.com)
So.....without further adue, let's head over to the stats!
Shot selection
| Shot | Att. | eFG% | Ast'd | Blk'd | Pts |
| Jump | 54% | .375 | 91% | 7% | 2.9 |
| Close | 31% | .380 | 58% | 28% | 1.7 |
| Dunk | 13% | .905 | 68% | 0% | 1.7 |
| Tips | 2% | .250 | 0% | 0% | 0.1 |
| Inside | 46% | .520 | 62% | 19% | 3.4 |
As you can see here, Tyrus can't hit his jumper well, and doesn't have a post game, but he can dunk, and he can dunk hard. A thing that worries me is that over half of his FGA are jumpers, but he can't hit them very well. However, 53% of Kenyon Martin's shots are jumpers, and he only hits 38% of them. So not much difference there. Tyrus has a foul-drawing rate of 18.1%, which is better than Melo's, and while his FT% of 66% isn't very good, the plain fact that he gets to the line well is a good sign for a guy without much of an offensive game.
On Court / Off Court stats
Many stats are shown on a 'per 48 minute' basis
| Stat | ON Court | OFF Court | Net |
| Minutes | 530 | 1702 | 23% |
| Offense: Pts per 100 Poss. | 102.8 | 102.8 | +0.0 |
| Defense: Pts per 100 Poss. | 103.0 | 105.6 | -2.6 |
| Net Points per 100 Possessions | -0.2 | -2.8 | +2.6 |
| Points Scored | 1075 | 3307 | -2232 |
| Points Allowed | 1078 | 3419 | -2341 |
| Net Points | -3 | -112 | +109 |
| Effective FG% | 47.7% | 46.1% | +1.6% |
| Effective FG% Allowed | 48.0% | 47.7% | +0.3% |
| Assisted Field Goals | 56% | 54% | +2% |
| Assisted FG% Allowed | 53% | 58% | -5% |
| Own Shots Blocked | 7% | 7% | +0% |
| Shots Blocked | 9% | 7% | +2% |
| Rebounding | |||
| Offensive Rebounding | 28.3% | 31.6% | -3.4% |
| Defensive Rebounding | 73.8% | 70.7% | +3.1% |
| Total Rebounding | 51.0% | 51.2% | -0.1% |
As we can see here, the Bulls are about the same offensively with him on the court (read: still bad), but there defense improves. As stated before, we don't need Tyrus to score a lot, but we would like him to score efficiently and play good defense. An interesting thing to notice is that his team actually gets a small bit worse in terms of rebounding when Tyrus is on the court. Since I don't watch many Bulls games, I am not sure why, but playing alongside Brad Miller could cause that. Or, it just could be from a lack of effort on some nights.
Hmm... (via photos.upi.com)
On NBA.com, Tyrus Thomas is listed as 6'10" and 225 lbs, but he seems bulkier than that. He averages a stunning 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals in only 22.5 minutes per game, but only shoots 46% from the field. His negatives are that he is turnover-prone, sometimes foul-prone, and doesn't always bring the effort needed. And as we've seen with Balkman, Renaldo, Karl isn't happy with players who don't give their full effort and, consequently, is all over players who do (AC).
You can interpret these stats however you want, and remember that there's a locker-room aspect to a player too.
via www.nba.com
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