Toxicity in Cavs locker room overblown
Isaiah Thomas’ questionable fit
The Cavs are 5-5 with Isaiah Thomas in the lineup and, all things considered, with the losses to some of the top teams (the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors, Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs) there’s still a case to be made that things haven’t been as bad as they’ve looked.
The games against the Raptors, Thunder and Timberwolves weren’t close but they played well against the Warriors and Spurs for three quarters.
That’s not to say Thomas hasn’t struggled to fit in.
Taking the highest number of field goal attempts per 36 minutes (19.0) on the team since he’s returned, Thomas has thrown of Kevin Love’s play in the first quarter and irritated LeBron James with his lack of ball-movement alone the way. In addition, his lack of chemistry and familiarity with the team has led to some awkward turnovers.
However, there’s hope that Thomas can get it right. He’s an intelligent basketball player who knows how to make the right play and the right pass. He just needs to put his upcoming free agency period in the back of his mind and play for the team not just for himself.
Some of his quotes have been cringe-worthy because it’s as if he doesn’t believe he’s part of the defensive issues or like he thinks he was brought to Cleveland to be a dominant scorer and not a dominant playmaker.
the whole Isaiah Thomas presser today is, uh, something, but particularly this exchange with Jason Lloyd pic.twitter.com/rEqwSJEi1l
— Jordan Zirm (@JordanZirm) January 27, 2018
He’s like a little Napoleon out there. It’s kind of endearing, kind of aggravating and kind of makes sense given then path he’s had to take to NBA relevancy. However, this team needs Thomas to be a team-friendly pit bull … who passes and plays within the flow of offense.