Who Will Isaiah Thomas Sign His Max Contract With?

Who Will Isaiah Thomas Sign His Max Contract With?

January 4, 2018 Off By tailgatesports

After months of anticipation, Isaiah Thomas finally made his debut as a Cleveland Cavalier. Ever since the BOS/CLE trade was almost declared void due to IT’s hip injury, speculation of when Isaiah would return, how well he would play, and whether or not his addition to the Land’s roster would better or worsen their place in the Eastern Conference standings ran rampant throughout the league. However, after dropping 17 points in 19 minutes Tuesday night vs the Trail Blazers, it appears that IT is back doing IT things, ready to return to the same level of dominance he showcased over the last two seasons for Boston. However, with Cleveland’s future literally hanging in the balance of where LeBron chooses to go next season, it’s unclear where Isaiah will end up, especially since he has stated multiple times that he is a max contract player and intends on signing one somewhere this summer. Originally I thought Isaiah would most likely end up signing a vet minimum deal with the Celtics to return to the city he fell in love with and to help the best team in the league bring home Banner 18, but after burning bridges with his former team (and especially with Danny Ainge), it looks like what would’ve been the greatest story ever for a 30:30 is now an absolute pipe dream.

So who will Isaiah Thomas sign with next season? I broke down what teams could realistically sign him while also providing IT with the best near future (i.e. even though the Bulls and the Magic could definitely sign Isaiah, they have absolutely no business in doing so, especially when they have so much more rebuilding left to do). Below are the 8 best landing spots for IT, and if for some reason you don’t agree with my picks, make sure to send an angry tweet to @_TailgateSports.

 

 

1. New Orleans Pelicans

This is the ideal landing spot for IT. The best front court in the NBA, a Western Conference team on the verge of becoming a top 5 team in the West, and a solid bench all make New Orleans the best place for Isaiah Thomas to take his talents in 2018. Ever since adding DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans roster immediately after last year’s All-Star game, the Pelicans have been the most dominant team in the league in the paint. However, despite AD’s and Boogie’s sheer athleticism, NOP has continued to struggle with the 3 ball. Adding Isaiah, however, would fix this problem, create an impressive backcourt of former Celtics centerpieces in Rondo and Thomas that would compliment the AD/Boogie frontcourt, and would make the Pelicans starting 5 one of the most well rounded starting lineups in the league, finally making the Pelicans a significant contender in the West. Not to mention signing Isaiah would most likely convince AD and Boogie to stay with NOP when their contracts with the Pelicans end. A starting lineup of IT, Rondo, Solomon Hill/E’Twaun Moore, AD, and Boogie, with Jrue Holiday and Ian Clark coming off the bench is something I absolutely want to see next season and hopefully Isaiah and the Pelicans can make it happen.

 

2. San Antonio Spurs

After missing out on both CP3 and Kyrie last summer, the Spurs need to add an All-Star PG to their roster asap if they want to return to the Finals in the near future. The Spurs are very similar to last year’s Celtics in that they are a team that is literally 1 piece away from reaching the Finals. In fact, the Spurs could’ve realistically reached the NBA Finals last year if Zaza Pachulia hadn’t INTENTIONALLY landed on Kawhi’s ankle in Game 1. Regardless, the Spurs are always Finals contenders, thanks to the greatest coach in modern NBA history who is able to make the most out of any player who suits up for San Antonio. An already deep Spurs roster with the addition of IT, who could be Tony Parker’s replacement upon his retirement, could result in the first Spurs title in the post-Tim Duncan era.

 

3. Denver Nuggets

While not as good of an option as San Antonio or New Orleans, Denver could be a realistic option for Thomas this summer. What they seriously lack in fan base they make up for it with cap space and legitimate potential. Drafting Jokic and signing their first notable free agent in like 7 years has actually been pivotal for one of the least successful franchises in league history. The Nuggets are already exceeding the expectations I set for them before the season started, and if they follow up the big moves of last offseason by bringing in IT we could see the next notable era in Denver. Plus, a solid team of Milsap/Jokic/IT that would be a top 5-6 team in the West could easily attract some more free agents and finally bring Denver back to the Conference Semi-Finals for the first time since Melo was wearing the light blue and yellow.

 

Imagine this, but with Isaiah running the show. Would be absolutely electric.

 

4. Cleveland Cavaliers

Losing LeBron means rebuild, and I’m 95% sure that’s what 2018 has in store for the Land. You can either keep Love and IT and have those two All-Stars keep the team relevant while they tank, OR you can trade Love at the prime of his career and hopefully get some monumental 1st round draft pick assets in return while also keeping IT for the last few great years of his career. The Cavs are screwed regardless, but holding on to Isaiah could allow Cleveland to secure a top 3 pick while also having a marketable player who can get fans to come to games and buy jerseys (which is pretty much Dennis Schröder’s role for the Hawks right now). With support from the fans set aside, this is honestly a terrible way for Isaiah to spend the best years of his career, however, if getting paid is his utmost priority, this might be the best, or only option, if the other teams mentioned have different plans for this summer.

 

5. Indiana Pacers

Talk about big moves. Landing IT and Oladipo less than a year after trading away PG13 would be a stupid fast rebuild process. To be honest, I’m shocked Indiana is as good as they are. Nothing against Oladipo and his successes, or the rest of the Pacers squad, but looking at that roster on paper before the regular season started there’s no way you could convince me that they would be in the playoff hunt, have a better record than the 76ers, and be only 1 game behind the Bucks in January 2018. Sure they have solid pieces in Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, Lance Stephenson, and Glenn Robinson III, but they also have guys I have deadass NEVER heard of like Alex Poythress, Cory Joseph, and Joe Young. I mean for real though, the last two guys I just listed off literally sound like randomly generated 2K Create-a-Player names. The Pacers success so far has to be credited to this team absolutely playing their hearts out with a little bit of luck mixed in. Add a 2x All-Star PG in Isaiah Thomas, who can run with the best in the league, with maybe one notable Center/Forward and all of a sudden the Pacers have a scary good backcourt and are in better shape then they were with PG13 not even a full year ago. Now that’s a process I can trust.

 

6. Sacramento Kings

A return back to where it all started. Back to the team who drafted him 60th overall only 6 years ago. While IT has grown and improved since first putting on the royal purple #22 jersey, the Kings are somehow still sub-par. However, they did draft EXTREMELY well this offseason and now have a lot of solid veteran talent in Zach Randolph, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Buddy Hield (he will become a reliable SG I guarantee it) to pair with their promising rookies to make a Sactown team with a lot of untapped potential. I’m honestly shocked the Kings are doing as bad as they are currently, but it looks like George Hill, who they recently signed in free agency last year, could be the catalyst of this disappointing season. Since joining, Hill has expressed his frustration and regret about joining Sacramento, saying that he’s never played on a team, or has ever been expected to provide veteran leadership, with as many “young guys” as the Kings current roster. However, his 10.1 ppg and 2.7 apg, which has dropped from his 16.9 ppg and 4.2 apg that he put up last year for Utah, shows that Hill might be the problem, not the squad of rookies and young guys, and swapping him out for IT, plus the top 5 pick they’ll most likely get from having such a poor season this year, could easily put the other Northern California NBA team back on the map and on track to dominate the early 2020s.

 

7. Phoenix Suns

Actually, forget about what I said about the Kings. IT rejoining the Suns is literally the same thing as rejoining the Kings, but better. Like most good things they somehow get their hands on, Sacramento traded away Isaiah Thomas to the Phoenix Suns. IT would only play in Phoenix for half a season, before being shipped out to Massachusetts, but during his 46 games in Arizona, Isaiah began to show signs of the elite PG he would soon become as the King of the Fourth. Now Phoenix is built extremely well and making all the right moves to get back into playoff contention. Remember when I said an Oladipo/Thomas backcourt would be intimidating? Now imagine a Devin Booker/IT backcourt. The former centerpiece of the Celtics paired with the SG who dropped 70 points on said Celtics when he was only 20. The only other backcourts better than that would be that of Houston or Golden State. A starting five of Booker, IT, Marquese Chriss, Tyson Chandler, and hopefully Josh Jackson if he can start playing at a decent level, plus Greg Monroe off the bench and hopefully another solid draft pick this year easily puts this Phoenix squad on pace to move up to a 6-8 seed in the West next season. Forget the Kings, if IT is doing a reunion, it’s with one of best best basketball states in the nation.

 

8. Los Angeles Lakers

A lot of this relies on LeBron, not gonna lie. If IT and James gel well together in Cleveland, and James sticks to his original plan of taking his talents to LAL next year (despite recent rumors of Houston now emerging as the favorites to land the King), IT could become the next version of Mike Miller and follow LeBron to his next team. Of course, playing on a team with LeBron means that Isaiah will probably have to accept a little less than a max contract in order for LA to afford to sign LeBron, but being on the same roster as James means you’re always in title contention, so hopefully IT can see the added value in that. Sure the Lakers could just sign Isaiah, but I think it’s very unlikely they’ll still pursue IT if they can’t land LeBron, especially since Magic still has a ton of faith in Lonzo Ball. Even though adding Isaiah could help further develop Lonzo’s game, the Lakers need to first add a stellar Forward in someone like LeBron or PG13 before they can seriously look into IT, and even if they do add LBJ, the Lakers could even pursue Dwyane Wade before looking at Isaiah Thomas.

However, signing IT would be a HUGE slap in the face to the Celtics. The former King of the Fourth wearing the disgusting showtime yellow and purple would be completely unheard of. Add that to the fact that the Celtics/Lakers rivalry would also be a Kyrie/LeBron rivalry and now the greatest rivalry in sports (except for maybe Red Sox vs Yankees or América vs Guadalajara) just got insanely better. I should also mention that IT would definitely be starting at SG for LA, not because Lonzo is the better passer/playmaker, but because “Lonzo Ball” and “playing Shooting Guard” should NEVER be said in the same sentence ever.

 

 

Written by Erik Clark

CategoryHome NBA