Isaiah Thomas has returned to Los Angeles to proceed with his post-hip surgery rehab and he remains engaged with the Lakers, Bill Oram of the Orange County Register writes. Even though the soon-to-be free agent may never suit up for the team again, the Lakers will make their facilities available to Thomas for his rehab.
Head coach Luke Walton spoke highly of Thomas and the relationship he maintains with teammates — even teammates who he played with briefly due to injury.
“From what I know of him he’s very team-oriented,” Walton said. “His teammates have always loved him, he loves his teammates.”
Thomas appeared in 17 games with the Lakers, averaging 15.6 PPG and 5.0 APG. A troublesome hip ended Thomas’ season in the playoffs last year and delayed the start of his current season before sidelining him earlier this month.
Check out more Pacific Division notes below:
- Nigel Hayes has had an adventurous 2017/18 season, which included a standout year in the G League with two teams, three separate 10-day contracts, and finally, a guaranteed deal with the Kings. As Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes, Hayes is excited to join the team and head coach Dave Joerger wants to find playing time for him. “That’s all you can ask for is an opportunity,” Hayes said. “In the talks my agent had with the organization, it was a great place for me to try to showcase what I can do, an opportunity to play in NBA games, play on a team to see what I can do to help contribute to a winning culture.”
- In an in-depth piece, Bobby Marks of ESPN Insider (subscription required) looks ahead to the Kings‘ offseason, Marks breaks down the team’s potential free agent targets, draft picks, and salary cap breakdown.
- As we relayed earlier this week, the Clippers do not expect to have Danilo Gallinari back during the regular season, which could spell the end of an injury-plagued first season with Los Angeles.