(AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, Pool)

I’ve been meaning to link to this for a while… The Grizzles have signed Iranian Center Hamed Haddadi. [via Upside and Motor] As you have probably read somewhere else (I know I’ve seen it a few dozen times), Haddadi was the only player to average a double-double (16.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) in the Beijing Olympics. Evidently, he also counts The Horse Whisperer and Frida among his favorite movies.

I guess with Kwame Brown leaving for Detroit, the Grizz were scared they’d look like some fantasy team that waited too late to draft their Centers when they threw out Darko and Marc Gasol as their big men tandem. After seeing Marc play in the Olympics and Darko play in the NBA, I can understand why they’d take a shot in the dark chance. Upside and Motor said:

Not the most polished offensive player in the world, but his Olympic stats in terms of rebounds and blocks speak for themselves.

DraftExpress says he’s out of shape, and I can’t honestly contradict that since I didn’t see him plan in the Olympics. But if Darko plays the same 23 minutes he did last season, Haddadi will probably only be required to play 15-20 minutes per game (Gasol, Hakim Warrick, and rookie Darrell Arthur will fill in the gaps).

My official analysis is the Haddadi will probably be worth drafting as a late round breakout potential player. With the way he played in the Olympics (at least judging from his stats) there are probably people who will take him hoping that he’ll be a double-double player in the NBA. If you’re here, you probably know to be more conservative than that already. But, he is 7′ 2″ and the totally cliched says is “You can’t teach height.” I can see Haddadi become a good center in the NBA after a year or two of playing against the higher level of competition, but I am very skeptical that it will happen right away.