Point guard Thomas joins Nuggets on one-year deal
The Denver Nuggets officially signed point guard Isaiah Thomas to a one-year deal on Monday reported to be worth $2 million. Thomas, 29, will join his sixth team as he enters his eighth NBA season. A two-time All-Star, he is coming off an injury-plagued 2017-18 season but has averaged more than 20.0 points in three different seasons.
“It’s not every day you have the chance to add a player with the talent and pedigree of Isaiah Thomas,” said Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.
“Isaiah is a player that we know will work extremely hard every single day he steps onto the basketball court and will do anything he can to help our team win. We are excited to add Isaiah to our already explosive core and we can’t wait to get started.”
Thomas recently got together with Connelly and Nuggets coach Michael Malone to discuss his potential place in the club’s plans, and the contract agreement was first reported by ESPN on Friday. After opening his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings in 2011-12 and subsequently playing for the Phoenix Suns, Thomas exploded into stardom with the Celtics.
He was an All-Star in both 2015-16 and 2016-17, averaging 25.5 points and 6.1 assists in those seasons combined. He guided the Celtics in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers before he was sidelined due to a hip ailment.
Last summer, the Celtics dealt Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, a 2018 first-round draft pick and a 2020 second-rounder to the Cavaliers for guard Kyrie Irving. After missing the first 36 games of last season, Thomas returned to average 14.7 points and 4.5 assists in 15 games (14 starts).
With the Cavaliers struggling, however, they dealt Thomas, Channing Frye and a 2018 firstround draft pick to the Los Angeles Lakers on February 8 for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
In 17 games, including just one start, for Los Angeles, Thomas averaged 15.6 points and five assists. The Kings selected Thomas in the second round (60th overall) in the 2011 draft out of the University of Washington.
76ers try, fail to recruit Rockets GM Morey
The Philadelphia 76ers tried unsuccessfully to recruit Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey to replace ousted executive Bryan Colangelo, according to a report on Monday night from the New York Times.
Morey, the reigning NBA executive of the year, instead plans to return to Houston for his 13th season in his role. He has shaped the Rockets into championship contenders in a highly competitive Western Conference by acquiring stars such as James Harden and Chris Paul. The 45-year-old Morey is a Northwestern alum who earned a masters in business administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has embraced analytics in determining his roster and has drawn comparisons with Billy Beane’s innovative “Moneyball” approach in Major League Baseball A 76ers spokesman told the New York Times that the team will not comment specifically on its search for a new general manager.