Sources: Nuggets’ Thomas making season debut

Nearly a year after a hip procedure, Denver Nuggets guard Isaiah Thomas will make his return to play against the Sacramento Kings Wednesday, league sources tell ESPN.

Thomas, who was upgraded to questionable for the Nuggets game against Sacramento in Denver, made his decision to play on Wednesday morning.

Thomas practiced five-on-five on Tuesday with the Nuggets and woke up feeling ready to make his return. Thomas, 29, would be returning to a Nuggets (38-15) team that is currently within 2.5 games game of first place Golden State in the West, and employing a bevy of talented guards, including Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, Will Barton and Monte Morris.

Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game for the Boston Celtics in 2016-17, a second-team All-NBA season that appeared to be clearing the way for a long-term, $100 million contract.

Nevertheless, an injury on the same right hip that cut short his playoffs in 2017 and cost him eight months of rehab, and a trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer, upended his hopes for that kind of long-term deal.

Thomas joined the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a trade-deadline deal with Cleveland, where he had played only 15 games in 2017-18.