JOKATE MWEGELO CONFIRMS LOVE WITH NBA STAR

After playing hide and seek, finally Jokate Mwegelo has confirmed that she had a brief love affair with NBA player Hasheem Thabeet. ' We dated briefly, had a good time, but it just didnt last,'she told a Tanzania blog. But Jokate was quick to deny allegations that she was not interested in Hasheem's money. 'I was not star struck or after his money,'she added. Rumors have had it that she is a gold digger,a thing she categorically denied. Jokate Mwegelo has been linked to Bongo flava singer Diamond of whom she also confirmed that she loved him.

TANZANIAN NBA STAR TO JOIN OKLAHOMA CITY

The Oklahoma City Thunder made their first move of the 2012 offseason and agreed to a deal with center Hasheem Thabeet on July 4.The signing is a minor one that could pay dividends down the line.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made their first move of the 2012 offseason and agreed to a deal with center Hasheem Thabeet on July 4. The signing is a minor one that could pay dividends down the line. The Thunder wanted Thabeet when he came out in the 2009 NBA Draft but the Memphis Grizzlies drafted him one spot ahead of the Thunder. Instead, the Thunder grabbed James Harden with their pick. Meanwhile, Thabeet ended up a disappointment in the NBA. Standing 7-3, Thabeet has drifted through the league, leanding on three different teams before making it to Oklahoma City. Memphis traded him to the Houston Rockets for Shane Battier. After playing only seven games in Houston, they traded him to the Portland Trailblazers for Marcus Camby. Over his career, Thabeet has only averaged 2.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks a game. The contract is a two-year deal for league minimum. This means if he suddenly reaches his potential, it is a steal for the Thunder. If he does not, it costs very little. “Playing in that environment is positive,” Thabeet’s agent, Bill Duffy said. “Sam Presti has done a great job of not only building a winning organization but a culture that's conditioned to developing and nurturing. So we think it's a really good fit. So now the onus is on Hasheem to buy into that and to develop and to reach his potential.” The signing also means that Nazr Mohammed will not return after watching his contract expire. It is expected that Cole Aldrich will move into the immediate backup role behind Kendrick Perkins and Thabeet will take Aldrich’s spot as a third stringer.
The signing was cheap, so that helps leave some leverage open for the three players that Oklahoma City needs to re-sign before 2013, James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Maynor. Maynor should come at a discount following his ACL injury but both Harden and Ibaka will not come cheap.

THABEET MOVES TO HOUSTON

The Grizzlies and Rockets made it happen. Here’s the final deal: Houston sends Shane Battier and Ish Smith to Memphis for Hasheem Thabeet and a first-round pick. According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, the Rockets went deep in talks with Philly on a Battier for Marreese Speights and Jason Kapono deal, but ended up choosing Thabeet instead.  What this deal means for both teams is such: Memphis gets security at the small forward position for Rudy Gay, while Houston gets a young big man to play alongside Luis Scola in the presumable post-Yao Ming era.

On Thursday, the Memphis Grizzles dealt 24-year-old center Hasheem Thabeet, DeMarre Carroll and a lottery-protected pick to the Houston Rockets for a now 32-year-old Shane Battier, and Ish Smith.

Only two years removed from selecting Thabeet with second overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Grizzlies have given up on him.

In a rare case of seller’s remorse, owner Michael Heisley opens up to Chris Tomasson of FanHouse:

"I don't know whether it's a mistake (having drafted Thabeet),'' Heisley said. "I look at (giving up Thabeet) with great concern. ... I think Houston needs a good center and I think that Thabeet could come back to haunt us. ... Absolutely, it's hard for us (to trade Thabeet). It's extremely hard. ... If he develops, he's going to be a big factor in this league and we might be eating our words.''

Heisley continues that the reasons for the trade were apparently twofold. In the immidiate, Battier adds stability and experience for a potential playoff run, while in the long haul, the Grizzlies didn’t see Thabeet usurping 26-year-old center Marc Gasol for playing time. Regardless, it seems awful soon to abandon a project everyone knew would take work going in.More Heisley: 

"When we drafted (Thabeet), Tony Barone, who's head of our player personnel thing, said, 'If you draft him, then you've got to play him. He needs to get minutes to develop.' ... We basically never really could find the time for him to get him in the lineup to really develop him as much.''

That’s a logical assessment, but it also begs the question, why draft Thabeet at all? In doing so, the Grizzlies knew what they were getting into, and chose to get into it in lieu of, say, someone like Stephen Curry…who would seem a pretty good fit in the Grizzly lineup.

As for the Rockets, well, I assume they know what they’re getting into as well. Thabeet is still incredibly raw, but he’s 7-3, can block shots, and he has never gotten a true chance to develop. With Yao Ming now unlikely to return to Houston, they, if anybody, can afford to give him the opportunity.