{"id":68557,"date":"2024-03-16T21:42:49","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T01:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68557"},"modified":"2024-03-17T04:42:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T08:42:14","slug":"nba-isaiah-thomas-signs-suns-complete-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/16\/nba-isaiah-thomas-signs-suns-complete-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaiah Thomas Signs with West Contender to Complete Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Two-time All-Star, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomais02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Thomas<\/a>, hasn\u2019t played an NBA game since Apr. 2022. That may all change soon, as the Phoenix Suns will sign the 35-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1769147257755254810?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">to a 10-day contract<\/a>, per The Athletic\u2019s Shams Charania.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Isaiah Thomas in the G-League:<\/p>\n<p>34 PTS | 4 AST | 7 3P<br \/>\n34 PTS | 5 AST | 7 3P<br \/>\n30 PTS | 8 AST | 6 3P<br \/>\n32 PTS | 4 AST | 5 3P<\/p>\n<p>Now, he&#8217;s a Sun. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5EzhFc3njP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/5EzhFc3njP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/statmuse\/status\/1769149159418876227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Isaiah Thomas Signs with Suns to Complete Comeback<\/h2>\n<p>Thomas had turned heads with his recent play in the G League as he made his comeback attempt. He signed <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/05\/nba-news-isaiah-thomas-nba-return-draws-ever-closer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a contract with<\/a> the Utah Jazz\u2019s G League affiliate \u2014the Salt Lake City Stars \u2014on Mar. 5. In the four games that he played with the Stars, the 11-year NBA veteran averaged 32.5 points and 5.3 assists per game, scoring at least 30 points in every contest.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019 averages with the Stars were magnificent.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, with players in the G League, a player\u2019s translatable skills are a better indicator of how they\u2019ll perform at the next level than their averages. This is not only because of the difference in talent between the G League and the NBA but because a player in the G League will likely play a much smaller role once called up to the NBA.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">32 PTS \u2b50\ufe0f 4 AST \u2b50\ufe0f 5 REB<\/p>\n<p>HE\u2019S BACK! Isaiah Thomas scored a game-high in his G League season debut to lead the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/slcstars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@slcstars<\/a> to victory over the Legends. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/y415zZ2Lgy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/y415zZ2Lgy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA G League (@nbagleague) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nbagleague\/status\/1765961175219544207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Keeping IT Simple<\/h3>\n<p>In Thomas\u2019 case, his ability to shoot the 3 will serve him well. He knocked down 44.6 percent of his 3-point attempts, showing off the same touch that allowed him to go from the 60th pick in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nbadraft\/results\/rounds\/_\/year\/2011\/round\/1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2011 NBA Draft<\/a> to the King of the Fourth.<\/p>\n<p>His height at 5-foot-9 has always been a limiting factor but he\u2019s also now lost a step athletically due to age and injury. He\u2019s still wily enough to get to the rim. However, those slow-developing rack attacks will likely be even less frequent if he\u2019s going up against rotation-level NBA players.<\/p>\n<p>In the context of his contract with the Suns, Thomas\u2019 3-point prowess helps ease his transition in Phoenix.<\/p>\n<p>The Suns are shooting 37.5 percent from 3, tied with the Golden State Warriors for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=FG3_PCT\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the eighth-best in<\/a> the NBA. Yet, they only take 32.0 attempts per game (ranked 26th in the NBA). To that point, his efficiency and volume will be appreciated, as 65.1 percent of his field goal attempts with the Stars were 3s.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, Thomas will likely take Phoenix&#8217;s final roster spot. Nonetheless, whether he signs a second 10-day contract, an end-of-season contract, or a longer deal, he\u2019s unlikely to break into the rotation for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/12\/kentavious-caldwell-pope-reveals-denver-nuggets-biggest-threat-phoenix-suns\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the 2024 NBA Playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Isaiah Thomas is coming to Phoenix on a 10-day contract per a report but the expectation is that he will take the Suns final roster spot. I would doubt he cracks the 8-9 man playoff rotation so more insurance policy if one of the guards would get injured.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Gambo987\/status\/1769199176674640231?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nMore to the point, he\u2019s unlikely to break into the rotation in a significant way this season. However, he could show enough to gain consideration for a more prominent role down the line. Especially on a veteran-laden roster that features many of his contemporaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two-time All-Star, Isaiah Thomas, hasn\u2019t played an NBA game since Apr. 2022. That may all change soon, as the Phoenix Suns will sign the 35-year-old to a 10-day contract, per The Athletic\u2019s Shams Charania. Isaiah Thomas in the G-League: 34 PTS | 4 AST | 7 3P 34 PTS | 5 AST | 7 3P [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":68563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,1608,62,3],"tags":[171,297],"class_list":["post-68557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suns","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-isaiah-thomas","tag-nba-free-agency"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}