Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Isaiah Thomas is returning to the NBA on a 10-day contract with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Four years ago, Isaiah Thomas was a fringe MVP candidate for a Boston Celtics team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Now, he’ll be trying to prove he still belongs in the NBA on a 10-day contract.
According to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez, Thomas has agreed to a 10-day deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, bringing him back into the league for the first time since February 2020. He was last seen playing for the Washington Wizards last season before they dumped him to the LA Clippers as a trade deadline acquisition. He was waived the the Clippers two days later.
Isaiah Thomas is back in the NBA with the Pelicans
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Thomas is eligible to make his debut for New Orleans in the team’s game against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. And as ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out, the Pelicans have to sign someone before Saturday to meet the league’s minimum requirement of having 14 players on the roster.
Sitting at 21-26 on the season, the Pelicans have won four of their last six games but are still 1.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
The 32-year-old Thomas will hope to crack the rotation and provide some additional scoring punch off the bench as he’s done numerous times throughout his nine-year career. In his last stop with the Wizards, IT put up 12.2 points and 3.7 assists per game on 41.3 percent shooting from 3-point range, starting in 37 of his 40 appearances for Washington.
Those numbers were a far cry from the career-best 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game he put up in that memorable 2016-17 season with Boston, but in a reduced role in New Orleans, perhaps his flaws on the defensive end won’t hinder his opportunity to contribute as he attempts to make his way back into the league.