You can spin Tyrus Thomas’ tenure in Charlotte one of two ways.
He was an overpaid malcontent who didn’t produce on the court or he was hindered by injury and tried his best to make it through a difficult situation.
After being amnestied in 2013, sitting out a season and splitting last season between the D-League and a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies, Thomas is trying to prove he belongs back in the NBA.
Thomas, via Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders:“Physically, I’m doing fine now,” Thomas said. “I’m in San Antonio training and just the biggest thing right now for me has just been conditioning and strength, just getting back to 100 percent.
“In hindsight, when I signed with Memphis, I think I was only at about 50 percent. So right now, it’s been just getting my body all the way where it needs to be with strength, weights and conditioning. That’s really my main focus right now and if I can get those things where I want them to be, the other things won’t be so hard.”
“I talked to my agent and we are just trying to see what’s the best fit,” Thomas said of his training camp options. “I would love to be on a training camp roster. What I do understand is that now I have to take a different path than [in the past] and a different path than I’m used to. I’m sure that I’ll be healthy enough to do what I have to do to make a team if I do make a training camp roster.”
Best of luck to Thomas, but I think his NBA career might be over. He’s 29, an age where his athleticism might have declined anyway. Add the concern of injury permanently sapping him of his athleticism, and it’s a very tough sell.
At his best, Thomas relied on his athleticism to impact games. Credit him for knowing how to use it well, but don’t mistake that for a skill set that ages well.
Adding him for training camp seems like a low-risk bet, though. Maybe he can turn a few heads.
It’s an uphill battle for him.