Isaiah Thomas is a fun player when he's healthy. The issue with him has been that he hasn't been able to get back to the All-Star and All-NBA form he had back in 2017. Since then, Thomas has bounced around the league. He's played for seven teams in the last seven seasons and has not played in the previous two campaigns. However, that has not deterred him from making the slow grind back into the NBA. Thomas recently signed a deal with the Utah Jazz's G League team, the Salt Lake Stars. Hopefully, he can showcase his scoring ability there and latch on with a team like the Orlando Magic or the Minnesota Timberwolves.
ISAIAH THOMAS MAKES HIS SALT LAKE CITY STARS G-LEAGUE DEBUT! 🔥
📊 32 PTS, 4 AST, 7/23 FGM, 5/17 3PM, WIN
Who should sign @isaiahthomas? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/z72nk5JSeL
— NBA Buzz (@OfficialNBABuzz) March 8, 2024
Thomas has always been able to score, but questions about his defense and size have followed him along his journey as well. But, there are a couple of playoff hopefuls who have a ton of size and defense already at their disposal. These teams could use a scoring punch that Thomas could potentially provide.
Orlando Magic
The upstart Magic squad has risen to fifth in the Eastern Conference. They were only projected to win 36.5 wins by Vegas in the preseason. However, they've already won 37 with 17 games to spare.
They've done it on the back of their defense. Orlando ranks fifth in the NBA in defensive rating this season according to NBA.com. They're virtually tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the only other teams they trail in that are the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Cleveland Cavaliers. They are legit on that end of the floor.
Offense, however, remains a struggle for the Magic. They rank 23rd in offensive rating on the season. No team below them is even in playoff contention and most of them have already tanked on their season. That's not exactly the company a team with playoff aspirations wants to be a part of.
Orlando just doesn't have a ton of scoring threats in their backcourt. Of the players on their roster who average at least 10 minutes per game and have a usage rate of at least 20%, only one of the four players who qualify is a guard: Cole Anthony.
The Magic guards do a good job of playing off of Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but Orlando could really use someone else who can initiate and create their offense to take some of the burden off of those guys. Isaiah Thomas can do that. Maybe he could be a fit there.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Another team that needs a jolt of offense is the Timberwolves. The T'Wolves aren't in much better shape than the Magic offensively. They rank 19th in offensive rating on the season (114.2), but the majority of that has come with Karl-Anthony Towns available.
Without him on the floor, their offensive rating drops to 110.8 per Cleaning the Glass. That would rank 26th in the NBA over the course of the season, just behind the Detroit Pistons.
If a title contender is trailing the Detroit Pistons in any category, then things don't bode well for them.
The Wolves are a contender. They have the best defense in the league, the fourth-best record, and the third-best point differential. But they're in jeopardy of dropping out of the running for the top seed in the West with the offensive workload Edwards has to carry. They should call Isaiah Thomas.
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