Denver Nuggets: Can Isaiah Thomas return to his All-Star form?

Once regarded as an MVP candidate, Isaiah Thomas has fallen on hard times and is looking for a chance to show what he can do as a member of the Denver Nuggets.

During a playoff series between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Isaiah Thomas began having problems with his hip. After the first two games of the series, Thomas was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason. Following this, he would be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving, and this would be the start of his demise.

Fast forward to this summer, and it appeared that Thomas would struggle to find another team to play for. After a decent campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers, he was the odd man out when he hit free agency. When free agency began, it was thought that a contender would kick the tires on Isaiah Thomas and give him a prove-it deal. Days flew by and it felt like the former All-Star was an afterthought until he signed with the Denver Nuggets.

This will be the first full offseason for Thomas to prepare since before the injury occurred. During his limited campaign with the Cavaliers and Lakers, it was evident that the injury severely limited his game. IT looked like a shell of himself and his confidence was certainly not there like it once was when he wore green. He averaged 15.2  points and 4.8 assists in 26.9 minutes per game over 32 games in 2017-18.

In Denver, will have a relaxed role off the bench. With a relaxed role comes lower expectations. Isaiah Thomas will have a chance to do what he does best and hopefully with that comes a big contract next offseason. Thomas will be around a better supporting cast, so if he struggles early he won’t be relied on as much to score. If he cannot regain his prior form, the one thing he has going for him is that he is still only 29 years old.

Vince Carter has shown the entire league that age is just a number if you can alter your game to offset your weaknesses. If the former All-Star is, in fact, slower than he once was, he can alter his game so that he can play smarter. Tony Parker came into to league as one of the fastest scoring point guards. Later on in his career, he became smarter and learned to make his teammates better by giving them the ball in their spots.

Isaiah Thomas has time to show that he can be the scorer that he was in Boston. If he isn’t the scorer he was, that doesn’t necessarily mean that his career is over. If IT can alter his game to become more of a playmaking point guard, he can stay on an NBA roster for years to come. It all starts with realizing your limitations.

The Denver Nuggets will be utilizing Isaiah Thomas as their sixth man, which appears to be his best position going forward. He needs to take the game as it comes to him and not try to force things. Will he ever return to his All-Star form again? That remains to be seen, but if there were ever an underdog player to do it, it’d be Isaiah Thomas.