#29 - Oklahoma City Thunder

Photo found at basketexpress.net

Walter Tavares – Cape Verde

7’3” (7’9” wingspan), 265 lbs., 03/22/1992 (22 years old)

Walter Tavares is far from your average freakishly huge, potential-stiff of a big man. If he ever comes over to the league he’ll be a walking dunk-prop and will have the infamous target on his back, as happens with every no doubt seven footer. I really wanted to make the Hasheem Thabeet comparisons when I first saw Tavares on video, and giggled a little when I saw him run, but he’s actually pretty agile for someone that gigantic and I’m a fan of him to the Oklahoma City Thunder at pick #29.

The physical attributes are just off-the-charts with Walter Tavares, which is obvious when you see him on the court relative to his peers and look at his measurements. The story of how he found the game of basketball is just as incredible. He’s only been playing the game since 2010, when a German tourist noticed Tavares and dropped his name to a team official with Gran Canaria. Four years later he’s a starting center in the Spanish ACB League, dropping a 16/8 in a loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish Cup.

There’s no question that Tavares is incredibly-raw, showing flashes where he’ll make fundamental mistakes or commit completely unnecessary fouls. Then, on the next play, he’ll make an advanced, instinctual play, like hedging on a screen and recovering in time to challenge at the rim, which totally belies his lack of experience. Tavares literally touched a basketball for the first time in November of 2009 and yet already can confound you with his almost basketball bipolarity. The mistakes are understandable to an extent, for someone that inexperienced in the game, but the flashes of dominance show there’s potential there.

The “wow” factor is high with Walter, both good and bad. One minute he’ll catch the ball ahead of the break by beating his man on a rim-run, and the next struggle to summon the lift to get the ball over the rim. His hands are proportional, in that they’re also massive, and he’s capable of some incredible displays of athleticism for someone that size. He can step up to set the high screen and catch the pass on the roll to the basket, and throw down a power dunk for good measure.  Catching lobs seems to be in the arsenal, showing hand-eye coordination that you wouldn’t necessarily notice from his touch around the rim. If he came over next season he could make Kendrick Perkins look like Al Jefferson in the paint, though.

Tavares doesn’t have an offensive game outside of catching passes around the basket or off of cuts or pick and rolls. He used the fewest amount of possessions among draft-eligible bigs and he’s attempted just six jumpers all season and 17 post-ups. According to that DraftExpress report I linked to above, “77% of Tavares’ offense this season came off cuts, pick and roll finishes, and offensive rebound put-back attempts.” I was disappointed to see he only got to the free throw line 1.5 times a game but his form isn’t atrocious, at 72.2% in the limited sample.

Size is a tricky thing in the NBA, in that it’s absolutely necessary to get to the league but too much of it is almost counter-productive. Rare are the players gifted with the size, speed, and agility of a Bill Walton, who downplayed his 7’ height and handled like a point guard. Even rarer are the players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who can play 20 seasons in the NBA without a major, long-term injury as a seven footer.

Some teams might be leery of Tavares because of his 7’3” height alone, who distrust that type of body holding up athletically. Even watching highlights now, you can see just how much energy he has to expend to do the normal, non-basketball moves, like running the floor or trying to get off the floor on put-backs. He’s not exactly Manute Bol or Isaiah Austin (*sigh*), in that he’s 7’ but weighs 150 lbs. (might be exaggerating), but his 265 lbs. aren’t nearly enough to prevent him from getting pushed around in his lower-body and giving up deep post position.

Walter’s already had some problems with his feet and high arches, which was a process in finding appropriate shoes to help out. He hasn’t missed a game in over a year and a half, though, which is huge for a player that needs to catch up on development time. The ACB League he’s played in has been, as Jonathan Givony puts it in that scouting report, “arguably the toughest domestic league in Europe.” Tavares has settled with being the defensive anchor for his team and protecting the paint and it’ll be interesting to see how his role expands next season and if he’s asked to do more (something) on offense. Adjusting to the NBA speed someday will

be quite the process.

The Oklahoma City Thunder is a veritable title contender and one of the three best teams in the league. They have around 11 players under contract next season (depending on a team option on Grant Jerrett and the non-guaranteed deal of Hasheem Thabeet) at almost $70 million. GM Sam Presti could use the full mid-level exception and come pretty close to the luxury tax limit. Team needs could include a replacement for Derek Fisher at guard (*old joke*) or a young big to join the rotation behind Ibaka, Perk, and Steven Adams.

Chris drafted Rodney Hood to the team at #21, which could be one of the more logical picks of this whole project. I was hoping to snag him with the next pick with the Grizzlies, as Hood would solve their shooting need that I wrote about, but Oklahoma City makes even more sense and fills the same need. Thabo Sefolosha is a free agent this summer and played himself out of Scott Brooks’s rotation by the end of the Western Conference Finals, as he was unable to find his shot and his on-ball defense has been declining as he’s gotten older. Rodney Hood won’t be close to the same level of defensive player as Thabo in his career, most likely, but he’ll stroke it from the outside and the Thunder could use the outside shooting from Rodney and/or Jeremy Lamb.

Hood’s a definite keeper and probable rotation player for OKC next season, stepping right into that Thabo role. That puts the team solidly into the double-digits with bodies on the active roster, and that’s partially why I leaned towards Walter Tavares here, for the draft-and-stash option.

Outside of trading this pick for a first next year, the international route is the best possibility, preserving the roster and cap space for when Tavares is ready and more advanced, which could be at least two seasons. After seeing the level of development and natural instincts this soon into Walter’s NBA career makes me incredibly optimistic in what happens over the next two years.

What I Think They’ll Do:

If Presti buys Thabeet out and declines the option on Jerrett he’ll be at 11 players (with Hood), before free agency. Holding another rookie with the 29th pick doesn’t make much sense when there’s the option of adding a contributor to another deep playoff run with the mid-level. If he plans to sit free agency out and doesn’t care about the roster flexibility he could go with a Jordan Adams at guard, but Walter Tavares has the upside and the option of developing in the ACB League.

Crazy Draft Day Trade:

Unlikely, unless a team without a first round pick (Dallas, New York, New Orleans, Washington, Indiana, Warriors) tries to buy in. Presti’s pretty shrewd and won’t relinquish this pick without getting a future first in return. He could move it for the cash (up to $3 million in total trade-able funds for the year) and because of the roster crunch but he could just draft Walter Tavares and wait a few years.