MARCH 20: The signing is official, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.
MARCH 16: The Suns will add former All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas on a 10-day contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The 35-year-old guard recently joined the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League in hopes of landing another NBA opportunity. He showed he still has his scoring touch, averaging 32.5 points in four games while shooting 45% from three-point range.
Thomas will provide another veteran scorer with playoff experience for a Phoenix team that’s locked in a tight race to avoid the play-in tournament. The Suns entered tonight percentage points behind Sacramento for the sixth spot and one game ahead of eighth-place Dallas.
The 11-year veteran has been out of the NBA since the 2021/22 season, when he made brief appearances with the Lakers and Mavericks before ending the year with the Hornets.
Thomas was an All-Star with Boston in 2015/16 and ’16/17 before suffering a right hip injury that derailed his career. He bounced around the league after that, and most of his recent stops have been on 10-day contracts.
Phoenix plays in Milwaukee at noon Central time on Sunday and has a three-day break before its next game, so it’s unclear whether or not Thomas will sign his new deal right away. If his contract begins when the team returns home on Wednesday, he would be eligible for six games over the following 10 days. A second 10-day deal would take him close to the end of the season, but the Suns would have to give him a standard contract to make him eligible for the playoffs.
Phoenix has a roster opening, so a corresponding move won’t be necessary to make room for Thomas, who will earn $183,704 over the course of his 10 days with the team. The Suns will take on a cap hit of $116,075.
Really want to see him back in the league with some stability. He was such an offensive beast with the Celtics.
The Little Guy!
Celtics did him dirty
Good for IT. I am sure the 100,000 will help. Hope he gets playoff minutes.
This guy could be 46 and 2 k nation would still want to see him yo yo- ing the basketball up top
Guy averages 17.7 PPG for his career with above average shooting stats and a solid assist/turnover ratio. Not saying he should be a starter/key contributor, but how is IT not a guy with a steady job in the NBA?
I like I.T. but he’s 5’9″ and slow. He was a liability on defense before the hip injury but he had the lateral quickness and on ball speed to kind of make up for it.
And he still appears to be a walking bucket!
Because for every point he scores, he gives up 2.
He can’t guard anyone.
Literally.
Well neither can anyone in the NBA either (maybe 10 players can play defense out of everyone) Today’s NBA is the weakest defensively ever out of any era in the history of the NBA. Freeman Williams would be a all star in this era. Oliver Miller would be Jokic out there. Yinka Dare would be Anthony Davis, Ed O’Bannon would be LeBron etc etc. weakest era ever. Bob Petit would school these overpaid man childrens
@Luke-305 is speaking Facts!
The Suns would be better off with the original Isaiah Thomas
The original doesn’t spell his name so weirdly.
Actually it is the original Isiah Thomas whose parents couldn’t spell properly. The correct spelling of the name in English is Isaiah not Isiah.
He spells it the biblical way. It was at his mother’s insistence when they named him not to spell it the way isiah does
Yinka Dare would be Anthony Davis is very, very far from a fact
Sadly, I took Yinka in a fantasy pool his rookie year. Thought he would be a sneaky good signing that would let me pick up another star earlier.
3 minutes and 1 rebound later and he was done for the season, OOPS!
No, he’s speaking false narratives! They play great defense today, they just also happen to play near perfect offense. Everyone’s an offensive threat including the 12th man.
There’s no defense cause ya can’t get physical in this nba. Today’s players would get eaten by Rodman,Oakley,Lucas,The Glove. Referee want to be the stars also..
Does anyone know why his name is the same as the other Thomas? Winner gets a prize
Actually the original was Isiah Thomas. The new guy is Isaiah Thomas. I
His dad lost a bet.
You are right Icon. Winner winner chicken dinner. You know your stuff
After the Suns loss yesterday dropped them to 8th in the West, here’s the 6 games IT would be eligible for if he signs today/tomorrow:
76ers
Hawks (back to back)
@Spurs
@Spurs
@ Nuggets
@OKC
I will be very surprised if Vogel puts him in the rotation.
Hawks at home and San Antonio twice? If Phoenix can’t force garbage time in any of those games then they have a bigger problem on their hands than 10 days to NBA ghosts
Well …….. if anyone can use a PG. it’s the Suns. Hope he’s healthy
He’s a decent enough scorer, but a 5’9” 35-year-old who plays turnstile D isn’t going to move the needle much out in the desert.
Crazy how a guy can drop 32 in gleague but can’t catch on with nba teams who regularly DNP – Coach’s D three guys every game.