Utah Jazz Free Agency: Player profile of two-way player Oscar Tshiebwe

The Utah Jazz made some interesting moves during free agency this offseason, starting with a potentially misguided attempt to secure star talent like Paul George and Mikael Bridges – the Jazz front office took a few blind shots in the hopes of hitting a home run.”Big game hunting“” has become a popular catchphrase among Jazz fans as Utah executives chased big names and failed.

Dumping draft capital and assets on the current roster seems at odds with Utah’s original vision of patiently building a structurally sound core tailored to championship prospects. With the “big game hunting” aspect out of reach almost as quickly as it was announced, Danny Ainge and his team shifted into high gear and focused on Plan B: staying the course and keeping the tank (we hope this plan offers more foresight than Plankton’s infamous Scheme “Plan A to Y”).

Jazz’s short-term plans seem to be shifting from a focus on the future to an infatuation with the present. It is almost reminiscent of the fates in Disney’s Herculeswhatever being holds the eye determines its vision, and the originator of the vision can change at any time – past, present, or future.

But with the long-term contract extension of Lauri Markkanen and some Smaller contract signings of free agents To fill the remaining roster spot, Utah finally seems determined to be bad for goodness sake. The tank is at full capacity, and those non-guaranteed contracts are perfect for the Jazz to get rid of when the time comes.

But not so fast, my friend. When it comes to basketball geeks like me who are obsessed with praising mediocre talent, no contract is too small and no name is too obscure to get me blabbing about why their talent is underrated. In that spirit, one of Utah’s newest additions has caught my attention and I’m here to tell you how this player can play a major role for the Jazz this upcoming season.

You’ve already read the title of this article, so I’ll spare you any further manufactured suspense: Oscar Tshiebwe, Utah’s new two-way center, just signed his contract and brings more to the roster than you might expect.

College Titans

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

If we’ve learned anything from recent NBA Draft results, it’s that dominance at the college level isn’t always enough to attract the interest of league officials at the highest levels. Just ask recent Naismith Player of the Year Award winners like Luka Garza, Frank Mason III and Frank Kaminsky. Two-time winner Zach Edey nearly suffered a similar fate before the NBA got its act together and realized he’s just a really good player.

Oscar Tshiebwe, the 6-foot-1, 250-pound giant from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had a fantastic career in Lexington, Kentucky. His college basketball reference page has so many awards and prizes that it almost looks like an Ohio State University football helmet – someone has really gone above and beyond with the label printing.

Sport-reference.com

In a backstory so well-known it’s almost cliche, this African-born prospect grew up not playing basketball until someone pointed out that a 6’1″ guy should play basketball. Tshiebwe was a soccer player in his youth before crossing the pond to play high school basketball in Pennsylvania. Oscar was a force in high school, where he was named player of the year and received a 5-star recruiting rating – easy work for the Congolese prospect.

In college, he double-dipped in the Accidé Salsa Bowl, which while unhygienicattracted the admiration of many in the basketball world. His background in football led to his impressive footwork as a big, and he used his excellent frame well to pull down a barrage of rebounds. The NCAA competition had no answer.

There are many things that Oscar Tshiebwe is not.
But he is quite possibly the best college rebounder of the last 40 years. – Kyle Tucker on X

Despite these promising skills in his toolbox, his limited offensive game raised doubts among NBA scouts. He is just inches away from ideal NBA size and his lack of athleticism and lateral quickness made Tshiebwe more of a positioner under the basket than an untouchable god in the crease.

He showed a promising level of mid-range shooting ability and his free throw percentage was solid at 71%. Those numbers reflect the potential for improvement as a shooter. Still, he never hit a three-pointer in his four-year career (shockingly worse than the notorious bricklayer Ben Simmons) and scouts didn’t foresee much improvement as a jump shooter at the next level.

Tshiebwe’s name was never called in the 2023 NBA Draft and he was forced to build a career in the NBA G-League with the Indiana Mad Ants.

Effortless translation

Photo by Richard Prepetit/NBAE via Getty Images

Have you ever watched a professional translator listen to a speaker and effortlessly translate their language into another? As effortlessly as these people translate languages, Oscar Tshiebwe’s unique skill has worked in the G-League as well.

At 16.2 points and 16.1 rebounds a night for the Indiana Mad Ants, Oscar’s stat line is as balanced as Thanos with a switchblade on his index finger – perfectly balanced, as it should be. An efficient scorer and dominant rebounder, Tshiebwe has shown promising potential. in the G League.

This concept is overused, especially when it comes to players like San Antonio. wrong point guardJeremy Sochan, but Tshiebwe may have the makings of a modern-day Dennis Rodman-type player. Oscar is a rebounding titan and capable scorer. His ability to keep the glass clean while contributing on the other end could earn him a role in Utah’s rotation, especially if they roll out the red carpet for their young players this year.

Of course, at this stage of Utah’s timeline, one could view signing Tshiebwe on a two-way contract as a thoughtless signing with no real impact on roster construction — sign him and lose him when the time comes. But given that the Jazz released previous two-way player Taevion Kinsey — a player they signed to a two-way contract just this offseason — to make room for Tshiebwe, I expect Utah’s front office sees potential in Tshiebwe worth exploring further.

Tshiebwe’s future in the NBA is likely very limited, as his skill set doesn’t give him much of a chance at the highest level. Will he burst onto the scene and compete for minutes in the frontcourt against Markkanen, Kessler, and Collins? Probably not. But I believe he can exceed expectations and bring the party to life by crashing the boards – exactly what he does best.

Let me know what you think.