Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas has a prime opportunity to prove himself with the franchise this season, joining a roster lacking depth at point guard due to the lengthy recovery time for John Wall.
Thomas, 30, appeared in just 12 games with the Nuggets last season and 32 games with the Cavs and Lakers back in 2017/18. During his last healthy season, the 2016/17 campaign with Boston, he held per-game averages of 28.9 points and 5.9 assists in 76 contests.
“The NBA is about ‘what have you done for me lately?’ I understood that at a younger age and I get it,” Thomas said, as relayed by Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
“These last two years have been tough. But I always say that it can’t storm forever. So, at some point things gotta open up. Hopefully with this big opportunity with the Wizards, I can show people that I can still play at a high level.”
Thomas has found new motivation coming off a quiet season with Denver, working out with on-court trainer Andre Brown during the offseason with hopes of regaining his old footing in the league.
“This opportunity is going to be big for him, to shock the world,” Brown said of Thomas. “I just want everyone to pay attention and open [their] eyes and know that ‘it’s time.'”
There’s more from the Southeast Division tonight:
- The Heat will likely try and trade out of the luxury tax if possible, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. Miami has little to no additional flexibility outside of its 14 players under contract, with players set to report to training camp in less than one month.
- In a separate article for the Sun Sentinel, Winderman ponders whether the Heat are sacrificing developmental opportunities. Miami signed veteran forward Udonis Haslem to its 14th roster spot this offseason, as Winderman notes, valuing the 39-year-old’s experience and locker room leadership for their current group of players.
- Magic guard D.J. Augustin hopes the team’s offseason will lay a foundation for future success, Dan Savage of NBA.com writes. “They’re in here every day whether it’s on the court working out or in the weight room lifting weights, the fact that they’re here now and have been here all summer doing those things, it’s going to go a long way in their growth and their development as basketball players,” Augustin said of Orlando’s young core, which includes the likes of Jonathan Isaac, Mo Bamba and Markelle Fultz. “Every guy doesn’t work out the same, some guys hang out in the summer time and work out every now and then, but those guys are dedicated and they’re working hard every single day.”
Who exactly does Miami expect to trade that anyone will want and they don’t need?
Possibly Dragic if there is a major PG injured on a contending team that also has some sort of salary match they want to dump.
Ellington’s trade exception doesn’t do them much good there, does it, unless they take back two players and fit one into the trade exception?
So that means they need to find someone who needs a PG and has two players at 6m and 13mil to send back. Or they could trade Olynyk and get back two players at 6m each.
Everyone else on the roster that could get them under the tax is either a key player or a key prospect for development.
The Butler acquisition made sense for no one but Butler, and the high contracts for other mediocre players are hurting them now. Seems they just wanted to have a “star” that would sell tickets now that Wade is gone, ironic since Chicago signed Wade when Butler was there to try to sell tickets.
Ok after a long consultation with our friend the Trade Machine, the only possible trade partner is OKC, and only if Miami wants Chris Paul and is willing to give up Olynyk, Dragic, and James Johnson in return (and of course OKC will not give back any picks).
I think Gordon Gecko is screwed here, he made several overpays and now he is going to have to live with it.
No way that OKC gets rid of Chris Paul without tossing in multiple first round picks in return. Probably more than they got from Houston.
Meh… OKC are smarter & more successful in this last decade than Houston, so they can & will do much better than them, which isn’t hard, right?
That doesn’t even make any sense at all. If your sole goal is to get under the Tax, then why trade for equal value player(s) ?
Lots of options to trade a couple of players to clear $7M in cap space. Plus salaries to match for a big time player to boot.
Dragic, J. Johnson for Gallinari and Robinson to OKC. Dragic can easily play off the ball at the SG postion as can SGA.
No cap space but works out for both teams.
Heck, Waiters for Robinson with the 2021 1st back and OKC getting the 2023 1st top 5 protected works for $2.5M in cap space.
Lots and Lots of options out there.
They need 3.7mil differntial. The players you can trade to get under the cap the way you are suggesting are your future and controlled for a while…that is why you wouldn’t trade them. Might as well just wait it out, the expensive guys will drop off before you are a repeater.
Unless I am mistaken they were under last year right?