The Los Angeles Lakers (23-31) officially began the Isaiah Thomas era on Saturday when the point guard joined the team for shootaround prior to their game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Although he will not be in the starting lineup tonight, he will play a significant role with the team and is ready to help rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and his young Laker teammates grow.

“Right now, they've been playing well. This is the best they've been playing, so I don't want to mess anything up and I told them that,” Thomas said. “Whatever they need me to do, I'm willing to do. Yes I would love to be a starter and I feel like I deserve that and earned that, but at the same time it's a new chapter for me.”

Lonzo Ball, who has missed the Lakers' last 12 games and has not played since the last time since the team visited the Mavs, will be inactive tonight but will return to his role in the starting lineup as soon as his knee is healthy enough. Thomas said that he'd be more than happy to help mentor Ball as the season goes along.

“That's fine. I've been in the league six more years than he as, so obviously I'm going to help him out. We're a part of the same team. He's a special young player and he's going to be an incredible talent in this league for years to come,” Thomas said of Ball. “My job is to help where I can. I'm still in my prime, so it's not like I'm taking a backseat to anybody. I'm here to be who I am, to make a difference on this team and I'm excited about the opportunity.”

A video of the interview with Isaiah Thomas during the team's shootaround, which was posted to the Lakers' official Twitter account on Saturday, can be viewed below.

Thomas played in only 15 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers since returning from his serious hip injury suffered during Game 2 of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals as a member of the Boston Celtics. The star guard was traded from the Cavs before the trade deadline with power forward Channing Frye and a first-round pick in exchange for guard Jordan Clarkson and forward Larry Nance Jr.

In those 15 games played for the Cavs, Thomas seemed to struggle and hadn't found a definitive role in head coach Tyronn Lue's lineup. On the season with Cleveland, Thomas averaged 14.7 points on just 36.1 percent shooting from the field, 4.5 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game in roughly 27.1 minutes of action per contest.