NBA: 10 candidates for a bounce-back season in 2018-19

9. Isaiah Thomas, Denver Nuggets

Thanks to Isaiah Thomas‘ injury-ravaged season, nobody backed up the Brinks truck for him over the summer. In a reduced role on a likely playoff team out West, he has a chance to take that first step back toward stardom.

The Denver Nuggets already have their point guard of the future in Jamal Murray, but on a one-year “prove it” deal, IT could very easily seize control of the sixth man role and inject some life back into his market value, especially if he embraces that role and continues to get this bunch talking.

The big concern here is Thomas’ hip is still bothering him and he’s not back to 100 percent yet. Once he gets there, however, he should be leagues better than the guy who averaged 15.2 points and 4.8 assists on .373/.293/.893 shooting splits last year. The raw averages might not be as impressive, but Thomas’ bounce-back season will be measured by improved efficiency as a microwave scorer off the bench more than anything.