Former two-time All-Star and one-time top-five MVP candidate Isaiah Thomas is finally making his return to the NBA proper! Thomas recently inked a deal with the Utah Jazz’s G League affiliate squad, the Salt Lake City Stars, and quickly showed flashes of looking like his old self. His recent performances clearly turned heads, because he’s now joining a bona fide (fringe) title contender.
Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic that the 5’9″ point guard intends to ink a 10-day deal to join the Phoenix Suns. Across his first three contests with the Salt Lake City Stars, the Washington product averaged 32 points on .379/.409/.941 shooting splits (while launching an insanely high-volume 14.7 triple tries), 5.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals a night. The 35-year-old had been unable to find an NBA home since the end of the 2021-22 season, which he split between the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Charlotte Hornets on short-term deals.
Ahead of the Suns agreement being announced, Thomas spoke with The Athletic’s Jay King. He defended his decision to sign with the Salt Lake City Stars, in the hopes of making one last NBA push. “I just love this s— too much,” Thomas said, per Jay King of The Athletic.
He told King that he felt he still has “good years of basketball left.” It looks like he’s got at least 10 days of NBA basketball left, anyway. It will be his second stint with Phoenix. He previously spent half of the 2014-15 season as a reserve for the Suns.
It would be so easy to just quit and be at the crib,” Thomas acknowledged. “Anybody can do that. I just know I have so much more left in the tank. The biggest hill I had to overcome was being hurt. That was depressing because I’d never been in a situation where I can’t control what’s going on. And once I was able to overcome that, it was like, just sharpen my skills, be ready for the next opportunity. And I know the crazy thing about it is I’m 5’9″, so I know these opportunities don’t come all the time. And with a guy being hurt at 5’9”, they kind of look past you; they don’t think you could be as special as you were before. But ask anybody who’s gotta guard me: I’m that same player. And I’m just super thankful to be out here. Like, for real. I’m appreciative of everybody that’s been pulling for me.
