Babbitt was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of nine his family moved to Reno, Nevada. Babbitt attended Galena High School, where he was a 3-time All-State performer and a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year in basketball. As a junior, Babbitt averaged 27.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while leading Galena to a state championship. Babbitt finished his high school career by scoring 2,941 points, which broke future college teammate Armon Johnson's Nevada state scoring record of 2,616 points. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Babbitt was listed as the No. 12 power forward and the No. 31 player in the nation in 2008.
College career
After originally verbally committing to Ohio State, Babbitt backed out and decided to attend the University of Nevada. In his first game, Babbitt recorded a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double versus Montana State. He went on to average 16.9 points per game during his freshman year including a season-high 30 points on March 12, 2009 versus San Jose State. In his sophomore season, Babbitt led the team in scoring with 21.9 points per game. He scored a career-high 33 points in the Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on March 13, 2010 versus New Mexico State. Despite losing that game and ending their hopes of going to the NCAA Tournament, Nevada was invited to the NIT, where they lost in the second round to the University of Rhode Island. On April 20, 2010, Babbitt hired an agent and declared for the NBA draft.
Babbitt was selected with the 16th overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2010 NBA draft. His rights were later traded, along with Wolves forward Ryan Gomes, to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Martell Webster. On July 9, 2010, Babbitt signed his rookie contract with the Blazers. He then joined the Blazers for the 2010 NBA Summer League. On December 8, 2010, Babbitt was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League. On December 18, 2010, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On March 3, 2011, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On March 28, 2011, he was recalled by the Trail Blazers. On January 4, 2012, he was reassigned to the Idaho Stampede. On January 10, 2012, he was recalled again. Babbitt joined the Trail Blazers for the 2012 NBA Summer League.
In August 2013, Babbitt signed with Nizhny Novgorod of Russia for the 2013–14 season. In January 2014, he left Russia under controversial circumstances.
On July 10, 2016, Babbitt was traded to the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick and cash considerations. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks on August 9, 2017, before being traded back to the Heat on February 8, 2018 in exchange for Okaro White.
