Tim Thomas

There’s a lot of minutes available at both forward spots with the departure of free agents Corey Maggette and Elton Brand. Thomas, who filled in at power forward while Brand was out last season, can also operate out on the wings. He’s a versatile scorer with 3-point range and could find a steady 25 minutes a night coach Mike Duleavy’s rotation, playing with a point guard like Baron Davis. He’s been a bit one dimensional as a fantasy producer, but he averaged a career-high 5.1 rebounds and could find himself in a position to duplicate that.

Thomas was generally considered to be a massive underachiever… a guy that teams like the Bulls and Knicks couldn’t wait to unload. Then, on the strength of a couple of weeks worth of feeds from Steve Nash in the 2006 playoffs, Thomas signed a fat free-agent deal with the Clippers. The fact that he regressed to his generally-disappointing level of play surprised no one, except perhaps Donald Sterling. The frustrating thing about Thomas is that he should be a superstar. At 6-10, 240, he has the size to fill in at center, but still has the agility and outside touch to play either forward position. Elton Brand’s injury might open up yet another opportunity for Thomas to finally become the player so many thought he’d be… but it seems more likely that he’ll serve as a depth player at all three frontcourt positions, with solid but unspectacular scoring, boards and the occasional three.

Thomas joins the Clippers this season to help replace Vladimir Radmanovic. He is a solid scoring option with a good three point shot. He has averaged 11.9 PPG and a .371 shooting percentage over his career from behind the arc.

With an athletic 6-10 frame and the ability to knock down the three, Thomas would figure to be one of the NBA's more versatile threats, but in practice that's not the case. Like many of the European players, Thomas is more comfortable sitting on the perimeter than doing the dirty work inside, and as such, he's never averaged more than five rebounds per game in any season. Moreover, he's not the sharp shooter that Rashard Lewis is, and on a team with Stephon Marbury, Allan Houston and Jamal Crawford, not to mention Kurt Thomas and possibly an up and coming Mike Sweetney, Thomas will be at best the third option in the offense.

Thomas was handed the starting small forward spot last season and never produced like a starter. He'll have to fight for playing time this year and prove to new coach Terry Porter that he's worthy of starting.