Isaiah Thomas has agreed to a one-year deal with the Washington Wizards, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Hard to imagine after the grueling seven-game series in the 2017 playoffs between Boston Celtics and Wizards, that Thomas would ever dawn a Wizards jersey.However, both the team and Thomas have separately struggled since that Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Thomas suffered a hip injury during that series that has plagued him since, leading to him playing on three teams in the previous two seasons. Boston originally traded him that summer to the Cleveland Cavaliers to acquire Kyrie Irving.
Thomas playing under the leadership of LeBron James did not work out, as he struggled to recover from his injury. Thomas was ultimately traded to the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2018 trade deadline, only appearing in 15 games with the Cavaliers. He would play in just 17 games with the Lakers.
Thomas signed a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets last summer. However, the young talented core that finished second in the Western Conference last season left Thomas outside of the team’s direction. He only appeared in 12 games with Denver, averaging 8.1 points and 1.9 assists — a far cry from his MVP-level 28.9 points and 5.9 assists he averaged in 2016-17 with the Celtics.
Meanwhile, the Wizards have fallen off just as much thanks in large to two injury-plagued seasons for John Wall. Last season, the team finished 32-50 missing the postseason.
Washington has since hit the reset button with Wall expected to be out a while with a torn Achilles. The Wizards have since scaled back their roster, trading away Otto Porter Jr. and Kelly Oubre. They lost Tomas Satoransky in free agency, and even lost Bobby Portis and Trevor Ariza, players they acquired in the Porter and Oubre trades.
As Washington is strapped with little salary cap space, they are just trying to fill a roster without hitting the luxury threshold.
They have already added Ish Smith to replace the departing Satoransky. Adding Isaiah Thomas for one year gives Washington a no risk, high reward stopgap while Wall recovers, all while showing its long-term commitment to Wall.
Meanwhile, Thomas is two years removed from his hip injury. Now, he gets another one-year audition to prove to the rest of the NBA that he can return to his old form, resuming his All-Star level play.
