Denver Nuggets: How much can Thomas’ chip on his shoulder help them?
Isaiah Thomas… remember him? Now he is with the Denver Nuggets.
The MVP candidate that may have posed a serious threat to Cleveland’s reign atop the Eastern Conference two seasons ago. Well he’s now the likely sixth man for the Denver Nuggets, and he is out to prove something.
Denver Nuggets
Despite an apparent lack of interest from other teams in the NBA he’s landed on a talented Nuggets squad with playoff aspirations and the coach he played for as a rookie. Lucky him? Lucky us!
The dream of MVP caliber numbers may be a dream I like to have but, after looking at his career numbers http://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6472/isaiah-thomas
his median numbers or even his worst numbers are a great addition to the Nuggets especially at a veteran minimum. Last season was a nightmare for IT. Coming back from injury to a situation in Cleveland that didn’t ever mesh to an LA Lakers team that was out of contention and acquired him at the deadline. He still mustered 15.2 pts and 4.8 ast (ESPN). That equates to Denver’s 5th leading scorer and 2nd leading assist man.
The Injury… He suffered the injury in those 16-17 playoffs and was eventually shut down against Cleveland. He was then traded around with serious apprehensions about his health from Boston to Cleveland and finally to LA.
In LA he showed a little bit of the IT we once knew but ultimately was forced to have an operation to remove debris from his hip. He reportedly will be a full go in September (Thomas (hip) recently said he expects to be fully cleared in about a month, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post reports.)
The Role… Despite the fact that that Thomas adamantly doesn’t believe that he’s a 6th man.(“I’m not no sixth man,” he declared in an interview with USA TODAY Sports this week. “And I won’t be a sixth man (in the future). I expect that is what he’ll be in Denver as Jamal Murray is the future at point guard and Gary Harris is entrenched at the 2 guard. So here’s to hoping he can embrace and succeed in that role.
The Fit… If IT has the desire and health to do so he can take over for likely starter Will Barton as the main man off Denver’s bench. I feel as if his numbers and veteran presence make him an upgrade over Barton in that category. So he may have the opportunity to be the NBA’s 6th man of the year and propel a Nuggets team from the fringe to the thick of the Western Conference contenders.
How’s It Play Out… I’m under the assumption that Thomas understands his 6th man role here and won’t be a locker room distraction. If I’m right then he provides a veteran’s consistent scoring and distributing presence to a young Nuggets squad that faltered in certain stretches of games last year.
If he is a significant bench presence then Malone showed last year with Will Barton that he will award late game minutes to the hot hand in some situations. So, if he isn’t viewed as a liability on defense and is doing Isaiah Thomas things on the offensive side, we may very well see the veteran in game crucial situations.
Next. Top 10 Denver Nuggets of all time. dark
End Result…
If this all comes together with the Nuggets rotation as it should with prayers for good health and cohesion answered then Thomas’s addition to the Nuggets sets them firmly in the playoffs? If Isaiah’s right about the #14 pick (Michael Porter Jr,)?… Well then the Nuggets are the best team not named Rockets or Warriors.