I'm surprised that many of you don't like him and are glad that he isn't on the team. I must admit, I never watched how he played for the Kings so you all may be right, he may have been bad for you.
However....this kid has been nothing but AMAZING for the Suns thus far. He's outplayed All NBA star Goran Dragic and the $70M man Eric Bledsoe by far. IT has been the best player on the Suns this season imo. Such an efficient player, and he is #1 in the league in offensive +/- and probably #1 in pts per minute.
And he hasn't been a ball hog for us so far. The times that he doesn't pass the ball, usually results in him taking a great shot. He sometimes constantly passes the ball too much to Gerald Green which gets annoying, I'd rather IT just call for a screen and take it to the rim himself.
Suns players love this guy. And I know yall are nit picking his comments in this thread but all he's said since coming here is this, (I'm paraphrasing): "I love Phoenix and I signed here because they showed that they wanted me. They wanted me for being a 5'9, scoring guard. They genuinely wanted me here and that's all I've wanted, to feel wanted. I'd obviously rather start (which competitor wouldn't?) but I'm fine with coming off the bench if that's what's gonna help us win ball games.".
Funny thing is that IT may not start but he's closed almost every single Suns win so far this season. He plays more crunch time than EB or Dragic and not because he whines about it, because he earns it with his play.
IT plays with more passion and heart than rest of the entire Suns team combined. I love this guy and I no longer hate the Kings because of the fact that they gave us IT. I went through this thread and laughed when reading about IT's "ego". He's the most unselfish player on the Suns and he's sacrificed his tiny 5'9 body for rebounds and loose balls all season long. He's CONSTANTLY clapping and cheering loudly for the Suns when he's on the bench.
I never knew how great IT is at driving to the rim and finishing or either drawing the foul or both. I never knew how great a shooter from 3 AND from mid range he is. I totally underestimated his play making ability as well. He's the best contract in the NBA (barely $7M/season) and its crazy to think that all he needed was to feel wanted by a team.
His only bad game this season was against the Kings and that was mainly due to the fact that his grandfather passed away shortly before tip off and it clearly affected his game.
I think the Collison-Thomas swap has worked out great for you guys so far (only 2 losses this season) so I think it was best for IT to come to PHX and maybe for Collison to come to Sacramento.
IT may have been bad for you guys (idk because like I said earlier, I didn't really watch much SAC basketball) but if he was, he's definitely learned his lesson and improved big time for us.
Best of luck (except for when you play us)
the problem with isaiah thomas in sacramento was always one of fit. the kings were thin at PG (still are, in fact), and they simply couldn't justify leaving thomas in a more appropriate role as a sixth man. he became a starter in sacramento
for lack of options...
unfortunately, thomas' size creates all kinds of problems in a starting role. he's always had consistent difficulty fighting through screens, and a great many of the league's PG's enjoy shooting right over the top of him. hell, even on offense his size creates problems. he had difficulty throwing simple entry passes to demarcus cousins during his time here. there were many instances where thomas legitimately had to leave his feet in order to squeeze a pass to cousins in the post. and that's before we even get to thomas' affinity for hero ball, which causes him to shut out his teammates and trash the game plan in favor of his own shot. when you're winning, you can survive those things. if the losses pile up, however (as they often did for the kings), IT's style of play can breed some resentment in the locker room...
isaiah thomas is a great scorer, of course. eviscerating second units is his specialty, and he'll always play at a very high energy level. but he's a
serious defensive liability as a starter in a league that's stacked at the PG position, and he can plague an offense with his desire to pound craters into the court. that said, playing in a flexible PG rotation with goran dragic and eric bledsoe is good for thomas, because it means that there's always a legitimate starter in front of him; short of injury to both dragic and bledsoe, the suns will
never have to justify thomas' place on the bench, and they can keep feeding him the canned "on 29 other teams, you'd probably be starting" line to soothe his ego. and make no mistake, phoenix knows it has a game of ego management to play with those three guards. bledsoe got his payday, dragic has his payday forthcoming, and thomas carries a
massive inferiority complex with him wherever he goes...
isaiah is an extremely dynamic sixth man, and he will thrive in that role for the suns
as long as they are able to keep him in that role. as a sixth man, IT gets to be IT; he gets to score at will, and he's given leeway to deviate from the gameplan. as a starter, however, he becomes a more frustrating entity. a coach will always demand much more from a starting PG than a backup, and thomas is not always interested in meeting demands that exist outside of his own shot. thomas has a me-first mentality, and when he's given license to be himself, he's one of the most impressive offensively-inclined guards in the league. but that me-first mentality can be damaging to the
team if used in the wrong capacity. at the moment, phoenix is doing it right: bring isaiah thomas off the bench, where he can do a lot of damage just by being himself, rather than play him as a starter, and make him less effective by trying to mold him into something he's not...
