Former Kings guard Isaiah Thomas en route to Sacramento ... to play for Dallas Mavericks
Former Kings guard Isaiah Thomas is reportedly on his way to Sacramento to face his former team as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
Sources told veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein the Mavericks were signing Thomas to a 10-day contract on a hardship exemption with several players out due to health and safety protocols. Stein reported Thomas was en route to Sacramento on Wednesday morning and would be in uniform when the Mavericks play the Kings at 7:30 p.m. at Golden 1 Center.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the Mavericks were signing Thomas after Boban Marjanovic and replacement player Brandon Knight entered NBA health and safety protocols. The Mavericks have been hit hard by the NBA’s current COVID-19 outbreak with Luka Doncic, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber and JaQuori McLaughlin all in the league’s protocol system.
Thomas, 32, started his career in Sacramento after the Kings selected him with the 60th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. The 5-foot-9 point guard spent three seasons with the Kings, averaging 15.3 points and 4.8 assists in 216 games.
Thomas went on to play for the Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and New Orleans Pelicans. He was a two-time All-Star with the Celtics and an MVP candidate in 2016-17, when he averaged a career-high 28.9 points per game.
Thomas has had trouble finding a home since then. He played a total of 32 games for the Cavaliers and Lakers in 2017-18, 12 games for the Nuggets in 2018-19, 40 games for the Wizards in 2019-20 and three games for the Pelicans in 2020-21.
Thomas will join the Mavericks days after his 10-day contract with the Lakers expired. Thomas appeared in four games for the Lakers, averaging 9.3 points on 30.8% shooting from the field and 22.7% shooting from 3-point range. He had 19 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves in his Lakers debut on Dec. 17 and 13 points against the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 19.
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 12:12 PM.
