Isaiah Thomas is widely known as one of the worst defenders in the NBA. Being only 5'9, Thomas doesn't have the length to defend his position, and many times this can cause problems for his team. Although coaches usually hide Thomas on weaker offensive players, teams with great offenses can expose Thomas' flaws.
After being traded to the Lakers on Feb. 8, Thomas has performed well. He scored 22 points and dished out six assists in a loss to the Mavericks on Saturday. Though, Thomas' defensive deficiencies were on full display in the game, and people were starting to take notice. Julius Randle was asked a question about Thomas' defense, and he defended his teammate stating that the blame was on the whole team, per Lakers Nation's Harrison Faigen.
“No, that's not on IT. That's on all of us… We've got to be better from the start of the game”- Julius wasn't going to blame Thomas for the Lakers' struggles on defense tonight.
In actuality, it is not fair to blame Thomas for the defensive woes of the Lakers. Granted, his presence on the floor can exacerbate those issues a bit. Therefore, Randle is correct at asserting that the Lakers' defensive problems lie with the team. Similarly, the same situation happened also on the Cavaliers, where Thomas was again criticized for his defense. The Cavaliers are also a horrible defensive team, so it was a matter of the pot calling the kettle black.
In any case, Thomas is a definite defensive liability. Though, as he has shown on Saturday, he can still be a useful contributor for any team.
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