Isaiah Thomas Returns Vs Philadelphia 76ers… In Garbage Time

Isaiah Thomas, a former two-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA Second Teamer, and top-five finisher in MVP voting, made his triumphant NBA return tonight in the Phoenix Suns’ blowout victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. After officially inking a 10-day contract with the Suns today, Thomas rode pine for all but the contest’s final 1:48 of garbage time action. The game was already wrapped up. With Philadelphia starters Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and De’Anthony Melton all out hurt, the team was a serious underdog on the road. True to form, Phoenix proceeded to win by double digits, 115-102.

Thomas went 0-for-1 from the field tonight (he missed a layup drive) and had no free throws. He did, however, log one assist, to deep-bench forward Nassir Little. Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic caught the moment live:

It marked Thomas’ first NBA run since the 2021-22 season, which he split between the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Charlotte Hornets. He had inked 10-day deals with all three franchises, but finally stuck with the Hornets, who wound up signing him to a rest-of-season deal to back up starter LaMelo Ball. Thomas impressed teams with his play this year for the Salt Lake City Stars, G League affiliate to the Utah Jazz, and was quickly snatched up by Phoenix.

His humble night is a far cry from his All-Star peak with the Boston Celtics. Between 2015-17, he averaged 25.5 points on .446/.371/.892 shooting splits, 6.1 assists, 2.8 rebounds and one steal. A major hip injury sapped him of some of his ability to blow by competitors, and without that speed advantage, he lost a bit of what made the 5’9″ point guard such a tough cover. It’s exciting to see him back. Pre-injury, Thomas played 46 games (one start) for the Suns in 2014-15, averaging 15.2 points on .426/.391/.872 shooting splits, along with 3.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds and a steal.

Per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports, Thomas is hoping this Suns return marks just the beginning of his NBA comeback. He’ll make $183,704 during his tenure with the franchise under the extant agreement. And he’s hoping to make a lot more, with more long-term security, in the future.

“I want to play a few more years in the league, so hopefully this is a setup for that,” Thomas said. “Whatever the opportunity is, I’m ready to make an impact each and every day. Whether I play or not, it’s bigger than putting the ball in the basket for me. Like, I’m able to lead — lead by example, lead by my experiences and just help in any way possible.”

Prior to this evening’s game, head coach Frank Vogel would not commit to Thomas being retained beyond his current contract. The team added Thomas, in part, to spell two-way guard Saben Lee, who is only eligible for four more games with Phoenix on his current deal. The Suns would need to convert Lee to their standard 15-man roster beyond that.

“[Thomas is] a very well-liked, respected guy in this league, in this NBA player fraternity, but we’re gonna see where his game is at,” Vogel said. “Again, I don’t know how much he’ll play for us. He’s really here from a depth standpoint because Saben Lee only has four games left.”

He got an incredibly warm reception from the crowd tonight, as evinced by Basketball Forever. It was a big moment. And it was clear he appreciated the love.

Thomas’ cameo wasn’t quite the main story of the night. Future Suns Hall of Famer Kevin Durant surpassed ex-Suns All-Star Shaquille O’Neal’s career mark in total regular season points scored. He finished with 22 points on 10-of-18 field goal shooting, plus eight rebounds and four assists. He now has notched 28,610 total career regular season points, good for the eighth-most in NBA history (and 10th-most in combined NBA/ABA history).

Sharpshooting small forward Grayson Allen was the Suns’ high scorer, with 32 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field (and an unreal 9-of-15 from deep!) and 3-of-4 shooting from the foul line. Allen is currently the league leader in three point conversion rate this season, at 48.3% on 5.9 attempts per. The Suns also impressed defensively, limiting the Sixers’ lone healthy All-Star, point guard Tyrese Maxey, to just six points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor.

With the victory, Phoenix improves to a 40-29 record on the season, but remains stuck in eighth place in a talented Western Conference (they’d be sixth in the East with the same record). The Suns are just 0.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Sacramento Kings, however, and are surely hoping that they can avoid the play-in tournament bracket (seeds 7-10) this postseason. Maybe an extra scoring spark from Thomas off the bench is just the kick this team could use… if it’s open to giving him a little more run. Welcome back, IT!