Thomas Robinson has to be the biggest steal the Trail Blazers got this off-season. Trading the rights for two international players and a couple of second round picks, the Blazers got someone with tremendous upside and, honestly, someone who hasn’t really had a shot in this league. Leading up to the off-season and hearing about how Houston was looking to clear space for Dwight Howard, I was thinking that the Blazers would be a perfect fit. Thomas could be the backup PF and could learn from an all-star in LaMarcus Aldridge and be on a team that actually wanted him. It is a cheap move for the Blazers and this kid has amazing potential. He would also be able to get some quality minutes instead of being a bench warmer.

Thomas has gone through so much in the last year that it is hard to remember that this will be only his second year in the league. Being traded twice already, he has already lived through the business side of the NBA and discovered some of the struggles in the NBA. Let’s start from the beginning. Thomas Robinson was projected to go as high as No. 2 in the 2012 draft, but ended up at No. 5. What is interesting about this is that fans in Portland were asking the question of what should we do if he slips to No. 6? Thomas was obviously physically exceptional and was just the player who would do the dirty work and be that hustle/energy guy. He was a skilled rebounder and it seemed like it would be hard choice if we had to make a decision. We all know how that ended as Robinson was picked by the Sacramento Kings and we got Damian Lillard at No. 6.

Then something happened that made everyone scratch their head and go “Why Sacramento Why?” Sacramento traded Robinson, Francisco Garcia, and Tyler Honeycutt to Houston for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas, and Cole Aldrich halfway in the season. Huh? I’m not going to sit here and say that this shocked me considering what Sacramento did with J.J. Hickson by just letting him go and then being able to watch Hickson as he tore it up, but you would figure Sacramento would at least give Robinson a season right? The thing that shocked me about this trade was that they really didn’t get anybody good back. Sure Patrick Patterson has a little more experience at the four, but Thomas had so much potential that it seemed like they didn’t give him enough time. I could understand if you were going to get someone good in return, but not a bunch of bench players. Especially since Sacramento was no where close to being good at the time of the trade. It was just odd.

Then Robinson got to Houston where they tried to squeeze him in. He averaged 13.0 minutes a game and only played in 19 games in his Houston career. I would say he did pretty well for the situation he was in, but this definitely would shake your confidence if you already got traded in the middle of your first season. When the 2013 off-season was coming up, it didn’t come as a shock to anyone that Houston was looking to get rid of him to clear room for Dwight Howard. However, they couldn’t find any people willing to be trade partners. There were questions coming out about whether or not he was a good player or if he could actually fit anywhere. Eventually Neil Olshey came calling and made a very good trade to grab Robinson.

This was probably my favorite acquisition in free agency this season. We didn’t give up anything basically and we got a kid who now has a major chip on his shoulder. He now wants to show what teams were passing on. Who knows what we have in him? But, from what I have seen in Summer League, I like this guy. He seems to have knack of knowing where the ball is going to bounce for the rebound. He needs to work on his shooting a little bit, but I think his main focus is going to be on rebounding, which I am okay with. The Blazers really needed an energy guy who would just go for every rebound since Hickson went on to go play with Denver. All I know is he is finally in a place where he is wanted and I am interested to see how he does. I also think this was a great move because if Aldridge does end up getting traded, we might have the PF of the future on the team already, maybe not as good as Aldridge, but who will certainly get the job done. Keep an eye on Robinson going forward. This guy will have a great story if he pans out.