Isaiah Thomas or IT, a former 2x All-Star in his own right, was not long ago an All-NBA Caliber player and playing with an elite level of greatness for the Boston Celtics. His 52 point playoff performance in the NBA is one of the most memorable moments in the history of Playoff basketball.
It all started with IT getting traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving at the start of the 2017-18 season where he was completely caught off guard with the trade as he had a historic playoff performance just a year ago. His post-trade physical examination at Cleveland stated that his previously injured hip has been reaggravated and along with that he was dealing with a lot of other injuries as well. He recovered well, but he was moved to the LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, and last played with the New Orleans Pelicans as a backup Point Guard to Lonzo Ball. However, this stint didn’t last long and was released after three games.
He never stopped his grind and recently he went out and dropped 81 in the Seattle pro-am recently — not exactly NBA-level competition, but 81 is 81.
Who could leverage on a steal deal of Isaiah Thomas?
1. Denver Nuggets
One of the teams that need a veteran Point Guard presence is Denver Nuggets. Last season, Nuggets suffered the most in the playmaking area post-injury of Jamal Murray before the Playoffs. With Facundo Campazzo starting in the line-ups during the Playoffs, his inexperience proved a downgrade to the squad, and the inclusion of IT shall make the squad deep.
2. Atlanta Hawks
Hawks had one of the craziest runs in the NBA Playoffs before getting knocked out in the Eastern Conference Finals against the eventual champions, Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hawks Starting PG has been Trae Young with backup PG as Lou Willaims. Will IT be a good fit in the squad and push the team to a much-required Playoff Finals?
3. Boston Celtics
One of the stories that could have been a match made in heaven, all Boston Celtics got was a Two-year Kyrie Irving rental in exchange for All-Star Isaiah Thomas who was putting Boston Celtics back into relevance. With much improved Jason Tatum and much rested Jaylen Brown, is it the right time to bring back IT? With Kemba Moving to the NY Knicks and signing Dennis Schroder, is it time to bring in Thomas back for squad depth? Or maybe even be the 6th man to the squad.
4. Miami Heat
The heat had one of the biggest off-seasons in the Free Agency market. Signing Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson to max contracts, resigning Victor Oladipo to a minimum due to his injury concerns, picking up great role players like PJ Tucker and Markieff Morris, one of the trades of the free agency was signing Kyle Lowry from the Toronto Raptors. However, if we have a look at the squad, there is not Point Guard who could give a much-required 2nd option to Erik Spoelstra. And yes, IT makes a great fit here alongside a great squad with a great team spirit. Do we see a trade here?