With the preseason officially done and the roster set to be trimmed to 15 in mere hours I wanted to take a closer look at the newest addition Malcolm Thomas.

Over the last year plus we’ve come to learn what a "Hinkie guy" is. They are usually high-upside, long, defensive-minded, stellar athletes. That’s why the addition of 6’9" Malcolm Thomas and his 7’1" wingspan is no surprise.

I had no idea who he was going into this so to catch everybody up here is a little backstory on him. He played one year at Pepperdine University before transferring to San Diego City College. In 2009 he declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft but pulled out after just one workout. He then went on to play two years at Sand Diego State University and averaged 11 PPG and 8 RPG in 31 MPG and was named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team in 2011. After going undrafted he went to play in South Korea before venturing back to the states where he had a stint with the LA D-Fenders of the D-league before a short 3 game cup of coffee with the Spurs in January of 2012. Back in the D-league he bounced around between Austin, LA and Rio Grande before leaving for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel for the 2012-13 season. He only played 16 MPG in 15 games before coming back to get a handful of games with both Golden State and Chicago to finish off the 2012-13 season.

Played Summer League for Chicago in 2012 and 2013 but ended up back in the D-league. Then was called up by San Antonio in December, played one game before being waived and picked up by Utah where he played 7 games. He played Summer League for Utah this year and was traded to the Cavs and Boston before being waived, where the Sixers picked him up. This seems like a lot of places, but he is still only 25.

Needless to say, he’s been around. Last year he was a D-League All-Star and in 2012 was an All-Defensive 1st teamer so he’s had success in the D-league. In his last stint with the Defenders in November of last year he put up 67 points, 31 rebounds, 4 blocks and went 8 for 13 from 3…in two games. His shot chart from last year is impressive as well (no long twos!). After taking only 12 3’s (.167) as a Senior at SDSU he shot 46 last year in the D-League at .435. All this while still showing he has a bit of a back to the basket game and 2.3 BPG. He shot .670 at the rim over those 12 games.

The question is what can we expect from him. Hopefully it’s some of this in the pick and roll. Since shot blocking seems to be a trait Hinkie is really focusing on with his "violence at the rim" philosophy Thomas fits it to a t. It wasn’t hard to find huge blocks from him. A lineup with him, KJ and Noel could be downright devastating. Add to this his penchant for wanting to dunk everything as hard as he can every time he can, he should be a ton of fun to watch. He also may be one of our top 3 point shooters if his numbers hold up anywhere near where they were in the D-League.

I’d have to guess that this spells doom for Davies and/or Moultrie because if this guy is as talented as it looks he should blow the two of them out of the water. Thomas is getting his first real chance in the league and could become our Taj Gibson coming off the bench and in defensive units with Noel.

I'm a bit baffled as to why this guy hasn't received more of a shot in the league up to this point or was even in anybody's training camp. Chicago and San Antonio were too deep for him to make any impact and his stint in Utah looks like just as a body to replace Marvin Williams and Derrick Favors who were both hurt at the time. He may be a real steal if he can produce in real NBA minutes.

Here are his game logs from last season in both the D-League and the NBA:

D-League

NBA

And of course video highlights:

Tel Aviv highlights

2013-14 D-League Highlights

31 Points and 6 Threes for the Defenders