The Isaiah Thomas comeback tour sounds like it's hit a bump in the road.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Sunday that the Los Angeles Lakers won't be bringing back the diminutive point guard for a second 10-day contract, though he added that several teams are expected to express interest in the former Boston Celtics All-Star.
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The Lakers (16-18, seventh in Western Conference) have lost five straight games since signing Thomas, though he is far from the only issue facing the team.
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But after a promising showing in his first two games with the purple and gold, when he had 32 total points on 10 of 23 shooting over 54 minutes, Thomas had 5 points over his next two games on 2 of 16 shooting in 47 minutes. He was a minus-20 in a 138-120 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday and didn't play in the Lakers' 122-115 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas.
Thomas, 32, has struggled to stay healthy since the Celtics traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a deal for Kyrie Irving in the summer of 2017. After averaging a career-best 28.9 points per game for Boston in 2016-17, Thomas is averaging 12.4 points per contest over 91 games for the Lakers, Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans. He's played in only seven games since the start of the 2020-21 season.
Boston Celtics
The Lakers signed Thomas two days after he exploded for 42 points in his debut for Denver's G League affiliate.
The Celtics reportedly had interest in a reunion with Thomas over the summer, and after he signed with the Lakers, Marcus Smart said he wished that IT's comeback was with Boston.
"I'm glad he didn't give up," Smart said. "He's still fighting and proving everybody wrong."
If the Celtics can bring back a player nearly 20 years after his departure, who's to say Thomas couldn't help the team out with much of the roster still mired in health and safety protocol?