Lakers: Could Isaiah Thomas Be Here To Stay?
In this story:
Yet another former All-Star veteran over 30 has joined your Los Angeles Lakers as the COVID-19 absences and injuries continue to pile up: 32-year-old point guard Isaiah Thomas.
Given all the sidelined Lakers backcourt players on Friday, Thomas was able to play significant minutes in LA's lopsided 110-92 defeat to the 14-15 Timberwolves. With the loss, the Lakers fell to a 16-14 record on the season.
Thomas was added via the NBA's hardship exemption, due to the Lakers' variety of unavailable players.
Avery Bradley, Talen Horton-Tucker, Dwight Howard, and Austin Reaves are all in the league's COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Nunn wouldn't be able to play regardless, as he continues to recover from a knee injury that has sidelined him all season. Anthony Davis is also unavailable due to injuries.
IT, a two-time All-Star while with the Boston Celtics, lost his Iversonian form after a devastating hip injury in 2017 and has never been the same player. Like many other Lakers, he is returning to Los Angeles for an encore stint, having finished out the 2017-18 season in the Purple and Gold.
Thomas had himself quite a night in his 2021-22 NBA season debut. The 5'9" vet out of Washington came off the bench to score a team-high 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting (2-of-6 from deep) in just 22 minutes, logging a -1 plus-minus on the night (far superior to the -19 of Rajon Rondo or the -15 of starting point guard Russell Westbrook).
That was a great start. Though it's unrealistic to expect him to reach the heights of his All-NBA self, is there a possibility Thomas sticks around as the Lakers most likely lose a bunch of games with Anthony Davis out?
Thomas can be a fun slashing scorer and outside threat, and certainly will be happy to shoot, unlike a lot of the Lakers' current perimeter players. He was never a good defender, and he certainly has not improved on that end of the floor. Again, though, very few of the Lakers are good defenders. With guards Bradley, Nunn, and Reaves all out (THT nominally plays small forward but at 6'4" is better suited to be a shooting guard), it's certainly worth seeing how Thomas performs.
Rondo and wing Kent Bazemore are generally out of head coach Frank Vogel's rotation, but could be pressed into duty tonight against the Bulls given the team's various coronavirus-related absence. If Thomas can consistently serve as a microwave reserve shooter, and his defense isn't too atrocious, it feels worth hanging on to him beyond his initial 10-day deal.
Long-term, the club would need to either not guarantee the deals of Bradley or Reaves (which they would not do, as both those players number among LA's few solid perimeter defenders), or waive a minimum-salaried player, a la Bazemore or Rondo. Center DeAndre Jordan is also clearly no longer a useful NBA player, but given the long-term absence of Davis, it's understandable that LA may want to hang on to the big man. However Los Angeles opts to proceed, it should make sure it explores the possibility of a long term future with IT on the roster.
