What can you tell me about JJ Hickson?

[Fitz303]

Hey guys, Blazers fan here. Obviously we picked up JJ off of waivers a while ago, and he's been killing it for us since he's been here. Sacramento fans obviously don't like him, as he played like garbage for them for the half season that he was there.

You guys have watched him play for much longer than Kings and Blazers fans, and I'm just trying to find out what your opinion is of him. Was he a locker room problem here? Why did he get traded in the first place? He seemed like he had a ton of potential early on. What happened? Any input is appreciated. Thanks

[ScramboD8]

I personally always liked him but fully understood why we traded him for a conditional first round pick.

He played terrific late in the last season and obviously drew attention from the Kings, who for some reason never gave him an honest chance.

As you saw yesterday he can knock down that 16 footer occasionally and he's got great energy. He can block some shots and will be very active on the glass if motivated.

I'll let the other guys tell you all the cons about him, they're good at that.

[Rise Against]

Just off the top of my head... He has horrible hands, I hear he can't even palm a ball. He is lethargic on defense. When LeBron was here, he didn't do much but dunk open looks. His IQ is Ryan Hollins-esque. Byron Scott was always frustrated with him.

[Biz Gilwalker]

From what I've seen, he'll catch fire every once in a while and string together some 15/10 games and then drift off into sub-mediocrity again. He's never going to be better than a backup F/C on a playoff team. He'll start for a crap team and play well for awhile though, but it seems like he wore out his welcome in Sacramento. I'm not sure whether it was because he was absolutely terrible or if he was being an idiot.

[Harper4Ferry?]

He has below average intelligence. He's among the worst defenders in the league. He doesn't understand team defense, and he may be incapable of understanding it. He can score, but should be no better than the 4th guy off the bench. Don't get your hopes up, he's garbage.

[TheOUTLAW]

I'm not in a good position to gauge his intelligence but he does have small hands and he tends to fumble the ball quite a bit when passed to for what should be easy finishes. Because of that, he gets his shot blocked way more often than he should. When left to his own devices he doesn't play defense or rebound enough but if you ride him, he actually can be a pretty good rebounder. My problem with him is that he just doesn't seem motivated enough to ever been all that good.