Worst Starter No. 1 – Isaiah Thomas
The worst player to start a game during the “LeBron Return” era was Ante Žižić. The worst player to start a series of games and make it onto this list was DeAndre Liggins. The player who was the most harmful to the team during his starts? That would be Isaiah Thomas.
Isaiah Thomas had an amazing career before he came to Cleveland. He was a two-time All-Star and in 2016-17 finished fifth in MVP voting. Despite standing just 5’9″ tall he became one of the best scoring threats in the league. Unfortunately, then injuries struck.
The Cavs knew they were getting a compromised Thomas; they contemplated backing out of the Kyrie Irving trade that brought Thomas to their team in the first place. They couldn’t know just how bad it would be, however.
Thomas played 15 games in Cleveland, starting 14 of them. In those games he shot 36.1 percent from the field on 12.9 attempts per game, hitting just 25.3 percent of his 3-pointers. He was the equivalent of a traffic cone on defense. His overall plus-minus in those 14 starts? -151, or -10.8 points per game. That was worse than the worst team in the league that season, the Phoenix Suns. Cleaning the Glass estimates that the Cavs were 18.5 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the court that season, a truly bonkers number.
Isaiah Thomas wasn’t a starter for long, as the Cavs shipped him and half of the rotation out at the Trade Deadline. His time with the Cavaliers was brief, but it was so destructive that he earns the title of “Worst Starter” of the LeBron James Return Era.