The Sacramento Kings have agreed to send restricted free agent point guard Isaiah Thomas to the Phoenix Suns in a sign-and-trade deal after the two sides came to terms on a four-year, $28 million contract.
Suns and Kings are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal on a four-year, $27M contract for Isaiah Thomas, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 11, 2014
In exchange for Thomas, the Kings will acquire forward Alex Oriakhi (57th pick in 2013 NBA draft), along with a $7 million trade exception.
Isaiah Thomas, who is only 5-9, was selected by the Kings with 60th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. Despite concerns about his size, he has far outplayed his draft position, and enjoyed a breakout campaign last season when he averaged 20.3 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 45.3 percent from the field.
Nonetheless, the Kings made it obvious that they did not view Thomas as a starter, signing fellow PG Darren Collison to a three-year deal, and only offering Thomas a deal in the range of $5-6 million per season.
Thomas took to his Twitter account soon after news of the trade broke:
God is great!!! I’m excited for what the future holds here in Phoenix. Proud 2 be apart of the @Suns organization! #Playoffs #Suns #TMC
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas2) July 11, 2014
The Suns now have a total of six point guards, and Ish Smith, who averaged 3.7 points per game last season, is likely to be released soon, as his salary for next season becomes fully guaranteed if he is still on the roster next week. The Suns also drafted guards Tyler Ennis and Archie Goodwin in this year’s draft.
Thomas is likely to assume a sixth-man role in Phoenix, behind a starting point guard duo of Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe.
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