A Smart push fell on deaf ears in Boston but not L.A.

No. We don’t need more shooters. Of course not!


Everyone in Boston has been clamoring for Isaiah Thomas to get another shot. Sure, it could have been anywhere, and Celtics fans would have been jumping for joy, but they really wanted it to be at home.
It ended up being the opposite, as Thomas made his Lakers debut Friday night when he checked in for his Boston predecessor, Rajon Rondo, early in the second quarter. Thomas went on to get to the line six times in the first half, scoring seven points in seven minutes in typical IT fashion. He would finish the night with a team-high 19 points in an unsurprisingly declarative return for the unabashedly confident former All-Star.
Of all the citizens of Celtics Nation advocating for him to get back in the league, it was Marcus Smart who was most excited.
“It’s amazing. I’m just proud that he gets another chance,” said Smart. “He’s been doing everything he can to show the world that he’s still IT. I think he was written off a little early, but that dude is a quiet warrior, and I’m just happy that somebody gave him a chance.”
The Lakers had to give someone a chance when their roster went into health and safety protocols this week. When Russell Westbrook went into the protocols Wednesday, Thomas got a 10-day contract sent his way and signed it Friday. Thomas joined the Lakers under the hardship exemption, which allows them to exceed the legal max of 15 players.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel wasn’t sure if Thomas was going to get in the game if Westbrook didn’t manage to test out of the protocols and rejoin the team in Minneapolis on Friday.
“We’re going to feel the game out. I will say if Russell didn’t play, we definitely intended to split up Russell’s minutes with (Rajon) Rondo and IT,” Vogel said. “We’ll feel the game out with Russ being back and obviously being a big-minutes player. We’ll see how it goes.”
Westbrook managed to return with a second negative test and start Friday night, but once Thomas is in the building, he is just inevitable. He checked in for Rondo a minute and a half into the second quarter, got the inbound and immediately drove to the rack to get fouled. Just seven seconds to start scoring once again, getting to the line effortlessly even though he is by far the smallest guy on the floor.
Two minutes later, an eight-point lead was cut to two before Karl-Anthony Towns came back in the game and started scorching the Lakers again. When Thomas returned in the third quarter with a bizarre concoction of former All-Stars in Thomas, Rondo, Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and DeAndre Jordan, he got right to work and made a beautiful drive-and-kick through the entire defense to find Rondo wide open for 3.
Next play down, a 10-foot jumper from Thomas was good. Even on defense, he got a nice deflection on a Minnesota drive to get a rare Lakers stop. The Wolves were pushing the lead to 20, and there was nothing Thomas was going to be able to do to make Los Angeles remotely competitive.
But it was clear that he does in fact belong. Whatever shortcomings he has, he is still capable of getting into an NBA game and get a bucket. That’s always been his calling card, and he can still dial that number when he needs to. It’s something the Celtics really could use.
“Obviously, I wish it would have been us,” Smart said. “I’m really close with IT, but I’m glad somebody gave it to him. I’m glad he didn’t give up. He’s still fighting, and he’s still proving everybody wrong.”
The Celtics were missing that point guard scoring sparkplug off the bench for some time but, at least, have found it this year when Dennis Schröder is healthy and the team is at full-enough strength to utilize him in a sixth man role. But it’s obvious in so many of these offensively dry second-unit moments that the team could have used Thomas, something Smart said he pushed for as they tried to shape the roster.
“I mean, I did, but there’s only so much I can do. In the end, it’s a business on that part,” Smart said. “But like I said, I’m just proud of him. the adversity he’s been going through, he’s continued to triumph and continued to fight through it.”
As happy as Smart is to see Thomas back in the league, at least for 10 days, there is probably nothing he would want more than to try to lock his friend up. That won’t happen if things stay as is, with the Celtics and Lakers already completing their season series and a matchup happening in the Finals being as likely as Thomas winning MVP. But Smart will at least be cheering him on from afar.
“That’s my dawg, so big shout-out to IT,” said Smart. “It’s all love.”


Jeff Weiss

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nba-rumors-isaiah-thomas-wont-194754373.html



NBA Rumors: Isaiah Thomas won't do second 10-day contract with Lakers


Jake Levin
Sun, December 26, 2021, 11:47 AM



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 two-time All-Star for the Boston Celtics.


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.  


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.

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?


Bob
MY NOTE:  I didn't know he went 2-16 after that first big night.  NOT good.  Still, if we can keep Jabari Parker with his lackluster defense on the roster as a "break glass in case of emergency" player then why not IT?  Parker is a one-trick pony and if he isn't scoring he's fairly useless, but IT can pass even if he's not hitting his shots and Tatum will not demand the ball if IT is on the floor. And IT can't be much worse of a defender than Parker and/or Juancho.


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