Camila Sosa
The experienced point guard Isaiah Thomas will have a great opportunity to prove that he can still play in the NBA after reaching an agreement with the Charlotte Hornets.
The contract, which was made official Tuesday by the team, was advanced Monday night by The Athletic journalist Shams Charania, who reported that Thomas had reached an agreement with the Hornets to be with the team until the end of the season.
The deadline to sign Thomas expired on Tuesday after playing twice a season under a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
Isaiah Thomas, who has played six games with the Hornets, earned a chance on a team fighting for a postseason spot after he had very good performances coming off the bench, and a leader’s contribution within a fairly young group of players.
With the 33-year-old on the roster, Charlotte is 7-2 and has only lost to the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. Thomas averages nine points, two assists and 14 minutes played per commitment, earning the trust of coach James Borrego with a stellar performance on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans with five of nine in-field goals and two of three from long distance to reap 15 points.
It’s certainly unrealistic to expect Thomas to return to the level that once made him an NBA star, especially after multiple hip surgeries, but he’s already shown that he can still stretch the court and provide a spark from the bench: something urgently needed by the Hornets ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference standings and four games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that occupies the sixth place that avoids being part of the play-in-tournament.
Isaiah Thomas Career in the NBA
Had it not been for the multiple injuries that plagued his career, Isaiah Thomas would currently be one of the attractions of the NBA boards.
After debuting in the 2011-12 campaign with the Sacramento Kings, Thomas has experience of 11 seasons on the circuit with ten different teams: Sacramento, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks and Hornets.
Within this period his best performance came between 2015 and 2016 when he wore the Celtics uniform. With the Celtics he averaged 28.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in 2016-17 as he guided them to the Eastern Conference Finals against LeBron James’ Cavaliers.
Precisely in these two campaigns with Boston he received the call to the two Star Games that he has on his resume, in addition to being part of the All-Rookie of the 2011-12 and the first all-NBA team of the 2016-2017. In total, in his career he has played 540 games, 386 as a starter, averaging 17.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 28.6 minutes per game.
