Isaiah Thomas has had a complete rollercoaster upon his arrival in L.A. — first impressing with a 22-point debut off the bench, and later struggling to find his rhythm and adapt to a team that has a system based on a ball-sharing point guard.
The 5-foot-9 guard has been scuffing in his recent two games, shooting well below 40 percent from the field, despite taking a good volume of shots through 30 minutes of playing time per game.
Head coach Luke Walton hasn't been worried whatsoever, looking for ways to accommodate the scoring point guard into a role better suited for him.
“He's been an unbelievable teammate to these guys. Very professional, so far,” said Walton, lauding Thomas' effort, per Ryan Ward of ClutchPoints. “I spent time talking with him today as far as what he sees, what we can do as a coaching staff to get him cleaner looks or plays maybe he's run with other teams now that he sees how we play and how we can manipulate that to his advantage.”
Thomas has shot a combined 11-of-37 from the field in his last two games (29.7 percent) and while he's gotten to the line efficiently, he's also failed to shoot over 50 percent in six of his nine outings with the team. One of them being a 1-of-1 night through five minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans, where he was ejected.
Yet Thomas and his inner circle have expressed that he is a starting-caliber point guard and that he deserves that treatment — an unforeseen issue Walton has been forced to navigate through in this latter part of the season, as he maintained the team hasn't lost confidence in him despite his struggles from the field.
“I know he wants to start,” said Walton. “I know he wants to be in all the time and there are games where he's played huge minutes during games where he hasn't finished down the stretch.”
“We have all the confidence in the world that he's going to make those shots. Most nights he will. He's proven he's one of those players that the fourth quarter, the bigger the game gets, the more pressure, that's when he plays his best.”
Thomas will have to play out the season with the Lakers, but by the looks of it, he won't be making much of a case for another team to come and grab him if he still struggles to shoot the ball efficiently — no matter how much Walton tries to help him.
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