On Wednesday, the Portland Trail Blazers agreed to send star point guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team trade that included the Phoenix Suns.
The Trail Blazers received Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, the Bucks’ unprotected 2029 first-round pick and unprotected pick swaps in 2028 and 2030 in exchange for the seven-time All-Star.
Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Isaiah Thomas recently took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and asked the Bucks if they need a backup following the Lillard trade.
Need a backup?? https://t.co/Tm5KrVNNMt
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) September 27, 2023
Thomas was selected with the No. 60 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after a three-season stint playing college basketball at the University of Washington and has played for a whopping 10 teams — the Sacramento Kings, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks — across his 11 seasons in the NBA.
Most recently, Thomas averaged 8.4 points, 1.5 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game in 22 appearances with three teams — the Lakers, Mavericks and Hornets — during the 2021-22 regular season (one start).
The 5-foot-9 guard’s best NBA season came during the 2016-17 season, when he was a member of the storied Celtics franchise. He averaged a career-high 28.9 points per game to go along with 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in 76 games played with the Celtics during the regular season.
Thomas earned an All-Star nod — the second of his pro career — along with a spot on the All-NBA Second Team for his contributions that season.
The 34-year-old’s stint with the Cavaliers didn’t pan out the way some fans imagined it would, however. He played just 15 games with the Cavaliers during the 2017-18 regular season after joining the team as part of the trade package that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston and averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game.
Cleveland dealt Thomas along with Channing Frye and a 2018 first-round pick to the Lakers in February of 2018 and received Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. in return.
Here’s to hoping that the Bucks will sign Thomas to a contract before the start of the 2023-24 regular season. After all, Milwaukee is short on depth at the point guard spot.
