Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas
PG, 5’9, 185lbs, 28 years old, 6 years of experience

Really quite remarkable season, especially late in games, and it was a shame it ended how it did. Nevertheless, that shall pass, and it seems the team now owns one of the NBA's best scoring talents. Isaiah's de-fence takes a lot off the table, and although he has improved significantly every season, next season must be the one in which that end of the floor begins to catch him. His overall fit both in the backcourt (especially if a high draft pick guard is coming), and on the team in general, is a valid concern. Having a 5'9 star shoot-first guard with poor defence is not the easiest thing to reconcile. Longevity, too, may be a factor, as may contract status. Nevertheless, his legitimacy as an All-Star calibre scorer gives him a huge amount of value, even if, down the road, it is not here.

Player Plan: One more year at $6,261,395. Eligible for the renegotiation/extension option so as to avoid the open market, and if no star can be found via the cap space route, this is probably the best use of the space available. Take trade calls, however.

Isaiah Thomas will feast off the dribble against a Chicago point guard rotation that absolutely will not stop Thomas getting to wherever he wants on the floor. No one truly stops Thomas getting to where he wants, of course – that is what it means to be elite. Yet Thomas will have free reign to get to the basket and pull up at will against the limited defensive pressure offered by the Bulls’ smaller guards. Carter-Williams perhaps offers the best defensive match-up of the group, yet he is at this point in his career so ineffectual offensively that Hoiberg cannot afford to play him. Chicago will not want Wade nor Butler to have to be chasing Thomas around, yet no one else will have any effect. A 35 point per game series average for Thomas is extremely likely.

[...] Furthermore, despite the good play from the Kings' other two primary scorers, Isaiah Thomas and Rudy Gay (whose career in Sacramento is off to a surprisingly fantastic start), neither is known for their consistent creation of open looks for others. Thomas can do it, but would rather not, preferring to be a score first player. The two guard combination of Marcus Thornton and Ben McLemore most certainly are not playmakers for others. And Thompson, as the fifth starter, is the one who loses out.

On the most basic level, the Sacramento Kings needed more talent. They now have that. Even after years of mismanagement and the frivolous burning of assets, Sacramento now has, you would think, a core five. Isaiah Thomas, one of the draft steals of the decade and a man who thoroughly outplayed Vasquez thus far this season, is the point guard. Preconceptions that small score-first guards must come of the bench should be disposed of, because Thomas is a legitimate starter. Rookie Ben McLemore has had a slow first month, but has plenty of time on his side to be the two guard of the future while Gay slots in at small forward. Derrick Williams is thriving since his trade from Minnesota, now that he is finally functioning as a full time power forward. DeMarcus Cousins is tied into a maximum contract extension, the certified core piece going forward. Marcus Thornton, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry compliment this lineup from the bench with quality role player production, creating a front eight of players that any team could use.

Isaiah Thomas - The oft-floated comparison for Thomas recently has been JJ Barea, whose success in the NBA playoffs represents a victory for dwarfism. It's not baseless. They do differ in their physical profiles, however, for while Barea is about guile, Thomas had the physical tools. It's a workable comparison, however.

The biggest thing for Washington is their smallest. Point guard Isaiah Thomas (no relation) is hugely athletic, quick, crafty and thoroughly unafraid. He takes it into the trees, hits his high arcing layups and floaters, and is a good outside shooter. He is also immeasurably improved as a point guard, despite being a natural two, and is now amongst the nation's leaders in assists, doing it mainly in drive-and-dish and transition situations. Comparisons to Nate Robinson are inevitable, but they have some basis in fact, and should be regarded as flattering. Alongside him, similarly athletic small guard Venoy Overton is possibly the best guard defender in the nation, using relentless energy to overcome his size disadvantage, even on some off-guards far bigger than he. Furthermore, starting wing Justin Holiday (Jrue's brother) has broken out as a senior. Always an athlete, Holiday was largely just a defender only heading into this season, yet now he demonstrates a greatly improved offensive game. He gets open for threes and is hitting them at 36%, as well as scoring in transition. There's little dribble-drive game at the moment, but as a shooting/defending role player, Holiday has become interesting.