Isaiah Thomas made his Denver Nuggets debut on Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings, but in a game that should have been filled with joy and excitement for Thomas' comeback, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was ejected in the first half:
Thomas is seeing his first action since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right hip in March.
The 30-year-old split the 2017-18 campaign between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, drawing minimal interest on the free-agent market over the summer before ultimately signing a one-year deal with Denver.
Thomas is just two years removed from a spectacular season with the Boston Celtics, in which he averaged 28.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds over 33.8 minutes per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, 37.9 percent from three-point range, and 90.9 percent from the free-throw line in leading the Celtics to 53 wins and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
However, two games into Boston's five-game Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thomas was shut down with a hip injury that had been bothering him since that March.
That ensuing summer, the Celtics traded Thomas to the Cavaliers in a deal that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston. Thomas struggled mightily with the Cavs last season and was eventually dealt to the Lakers at the trade deadline.
The two-time All-Star, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Washington, spent the first three seasons of his career with the Kings before signing with the Phoenix Suns during the summer of 2014. He was then traded to the Celtics midway through the 2014-15 campaign.
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