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Isaiah Thomas Reportedly Signs Contract to Play in NBA G League Showcase
December 12, 2021
Former All-Star Isaiah Thomas is taking another stab at getting back to the NBA.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, Thomas has signed with the G League and will take part in the G League Showcase from Dec. 19-22.
The G League Winter Showcase features eight teams in a single-elimination tournament. Team scouts and executives will be in attendance to evaluate players.
The 32-year-old played three games for the New Orleans Pelicans last season after signing a 10-day contract on April 3. He averaged 7.7 points on 33.3 percent shooting coming off the bench.
As he continued to keep his hopes for an NBA comeback alive, Thomas joined the Crawsover Pro-Am Basketball League this summer. He made headlines after scoring 81 points in an Aug. 8 game.
Bleacher Report @BleacherReportISAIAH THOMAS DROPPED 81 POINTS IN A PRO-AM GAME 😱<br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ballislife</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/thecrawsover?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thecrawsover</a>)<a href="https://t.co/nrDqgeJIEU">pic.twitter.com/nrDqgeJIEU</a>
Thomas' career took a steep downward turn after he finished fifth in MVP voting for the 2016-17 season. He suffered a hip injury during the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
After the Cavs traded for Thomas as part of the Kyrie Irving deal, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reported the veteran point guard had multiple hip problems and that "a loss of cartilage and some arthritis, are complicating his healing process."
Those health concerns briefly held up the trade before the Celtics included an additional second-round draft pick as part of Cleveland's return.
Before the hip issues, Thomas was one of the best scoring guards in the NBA for two seasons from 2015-17. He averaged 25.5 points, 6.1 assists and shot 44.6 percent from the field in 158 appearances for the Celtics during that span.
Since the trade went down, Thomas has struggled to stay on the floor and has been largely ineffective when he does play. The University of Washington alum has only appeared in 87 NBA games over the past four seasons. He averaged 12.6 points per game with a 38.4 field-goal percentage in those appearances.