After using the NBA G-League Showcase as a vehicle to get back in the NBA, for now, Isaiah Thomas is again on the outside looking in.
Despite the Los Angeles Lakers continuing issues with having players in the lineup for games, the team has decided to forego offering Isaiah Thomas a second 10-day contract, as reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Thomas says “multiple teams” are interested in signing the veteran point guard to a contract despite being waived.
The Lakers and Isaiah Thomas won’t do a second 10-day contract, making him a free agent, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Multiple teams are expected to express interest in Thomas, who averaged 9.3 points in four games for Lakers.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 26, 2021
Over the course of Thomas’s time with the Lakers, he averaged 9.3 points and 1.5 assists in 25.3 minutes per game in four games, including a 19 point performance in his first appearance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which led the team in scoring.
🔥 @isaiahthomas puts up 19 points in his return to the @Lakers and his 2021-22 NBA debut! pic.twitter.com/tgblSNIWGX
— NBA (@NBA) December 18, 2021
The move comes on the heels of the Lakers having to place Rajon Rondo in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. But with the decline of production in his last three games, including shooting 30.8 percent from the field and 22.7 percent from behind the arc, offensive efficiency became a concern. When the Lakers signed Stanley Johnson and recently un-retired Darren Collison to deals, the writing was on the wall.
Isaiah Thomas did not play in the Christmas Day matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.
