Longtime NBA power forward/center Taj Gibson has secured a permanent spot on an NBA roster for the rest of the year. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the 38-year-old USC product will ink a rest-of-year deal with the Detroit Pistons, probably tomorrow. He had previously signed a 10-day contract with the club, to add some veteran leadership to a youth-laden roster.
Gibson has enjoyed a lengthy pro career. He was selected with the No. 26 pick out of USC by the Chicago Bulls in the 2009 draft, and quickly emerged as a terrific, fundamentally sound, high-motor, stabilizing defensive presence on several chippy Chicago squads during their Derrick Rose/Joakim Noah/Jimmy Butler/Luol Deng era. He was a key part of the team’s 62-win season in 2010-11, wherein Chicago returned to the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 1998. Gibson frequently closed games in the stead of maximum-salaried starting four Carlos Boozer, thanks to his superior defense.
The 6’9″ vet made quite an impression on his Chicago head coach Tom Thibodeau, who subsequently brought him along for stops with the Minnesota Timberwolves and, more recently, the New York Knicks. In a 15-year pro career, Gibson has also enjoyed stints for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards. He boasts career averages of 8.6 points on 51.7% shooting from the floor, 5.8 rebounds, one assist, one block and 0.5 steals a night.
His impact, however, goes beyond a box score. Gibson has been a beloved teammate at basically every stop, and in his prime was one of the league’s premiere post defenders. During his Thibodeau Bulls seasons, he notched top-ten finishes in league voting for the Sixth Man of the Year award twice, in 2010-11 and 2014-15.
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After they fell to a 12-54 record today thanks to a 108-95 loss against the Miami Heat, the Pistons have now been officially eliminated from playoff (or even play-in) contention for the 2023-24 season. But Gibson is a venerated locker room presence, and clearly the team’s front office, led by general manager Troy Weaver, values the prospect of his influence on a floundering roster loaded with talented-if-unfocused youth.
Gibson transitioned into a fringe bench role during his 2020-21 season with New York. This past season, he was relegated to essentially a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency player. He appeared in just 16 contests with New York, averaging one point and 1.8 rebounds across 10.3 inconsistent minutes. He has yet to actually play in a game for Detroit. Weaver and co. appear to be hoping Gibson, a famous workaholic, can provide a Udonis Haslem-esque “coach on the floor” impact on young recent lottery picks like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, plus Gibson’s old Knicks running mate Quentin Grimes.
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