Former Boston Celtics MVP candidate about to get one final NBA opportunity
As Valley of the Suns' Luke Duffy sees it, former Boston Celtics MVP candidate Isaiah Thomas is about to get one last opportunity to prove he is an NBA-level contributor with the Phoenix Suns after Bradley Beal sprained his finger late in an unfathomable loss to a San Antonio Spurs squad playing without Victor Wembanyama on March 25.
"Thomas wouldn't start for the Suns - Royce O'Neale would seem the most obvious choice - but he now has a chance at playing 10 minutes off the bench and acting as the floor general that the second unit needs when Booker goes to the bench for a break," Duffy wrote. "Coach Vogel will begin to shorten his rotation soon, which means Booker is going to play a lot of minutes anyway.
"But with Thomas seemingly "filling it up" in practice - and the Suns having been plagued by turnover issues all season - it makes sense for him to get one final opportunity in the league. To be able to help a team with ambitions of winning a championship surely makes it all the sweeter for Thomas, and fans will no doubt be on his side if he is given some extended run if Beal is forced to miss some time."
Isaiah Thomas should have opportunity to retire with Boston Celtics
This season wasn't the time for Thomas to return to the Celtics -- the Suns seem to be the perfect landing spot for Thomas considering their wildly underperforming team this season after landing a third star in Beal in the offseason -- but that shouldn't mean the door should permanently be closed.
Whether Boston wins a championship or not this June, Thomas should have the opportunity to return to the franchise that made him a legend, and that he also helped expedite their rebuild upon his arrival in 2015.
Thomas is more of a spiritual contributor at this point than an on-court one, but the love between IT and the Cs is still there; as the response to his G-League return earlier in March illustrated.
One more run in green feels like the only proper way to end Thomas' underdog story. Because being a secondary scapegoat on a Suns team that is all but destined to disappoint in the postseason certainly doesn't.