Michael Malone had gotten used to the humdrum. The offices the Nuggets’ coaching staff inhabit are just down the hall from the team’s locker room. Last season, Malone’s crew didn’t have much noise to contend with as they planned a practice or strategized for a game.
“Maybe some music,” Malone said. “But you didn’t ever hear chatter.”
But last week, Malone noticed a shift. Malone heard shouting instead of the faint thumping of a bass. He walked into the Nuggets’ locker room to investigate. As he suspected, Isaiah Thomas was inside egging teammates on.
“Every day last week there was a full on argument where I had to see what was going on,” Malone said. “Right in the middle of it was Isaiah Thomas. They were talking about Magic Johnson, what kind of impact he’d have on today’s game? Klay Thompson, would he be a big-time scorer if he wasn’t on Golden State?”
The Nuggets are banking on Thomas’ brashness mixing well with a group of guys whose default settings are to fly under the radar. It was part of the reason Denver signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal in July. The 5-foot-9 scoring guard, who finished fifth in MVP voting a little more than a year ago, doesn’t shy away from sharing his opinion.
“I said if Klay Thompson was the No. 1 option on a team he would average 25 points per game,” Thomas said. “I’m not gonna name any names, but somebody said he would only average 18. Klay Thompson is the second-best shooting guard in the NBA behind James Harden. Somebody said he wasn’t. … The other day I was in here for an hour and a half extra arguing with these guys. I almost got into trouble with my wife because I was here too long.”
Third-string point guard Monte Morris said Thomas has already earned the nickname “Stephen A. Smith” for his ability to fan the flames.
Clearly, Thomas’ presence is being felt off the court. On the court, he’s still a ways away from returning after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in March to repair his right hip. Thomas will not play during training camp, which begins Tuesday in San Diego, and no timetable was put on his return.
“We’re going to be especially conservative with Isaiah,” Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “He’s been through a rough couple of years being rushed back to the court with his toughness and wanting to compete. We have no firm time frame, but when he’s right he’s going to make a huge impact.”
Thomas was one of the most dangerous offensive forces in basketball in 2016-17. He averaged 28.9 points on a Boston Celtics team that made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. When he returns, the Nuggets will lean on him heavily to provide offense as a sixth man.
One reason Thomas felt comfortable going on his redemption tour in Denver was the opportunity to play for a coach who gets him. When Malone was the head coach in Sacramento in 2013-14, he encouraged Thomas to play to his strengths instead of masquerading as a pass-first point guard.
“One of our first conversations in Sacramento was there was a group of people who wanted me to be John Stockton,” Thomas said. “I was like, ‘I’ve only seen highlights of John Stockton. I don’t know how to play like him.’ Mike Malone brought me in and said, ‘I don’t want you to be John Stockton. I want you to be Isaiah Thomas.'”
Thomas averaged 20.3 points per game that season, upping his scoring average by more than six points per contest from the year before. There’s not a pathway to 20 points per game in Denver. The Nuggets have made it clear that Jamal Murray will start and get most of the minutes at point guard when Thomas does get healthy. Thomas understood this when he signed. To him, the opportunity to play a key role on a team with 50-win aspirations was enough.
The Nuggets need someone to carry the scoring load when Malone goes to his bench. Thomas is more than qualified for that role. Thomas’ bravado is also a necessary ingredient on a team whose best players prefer not to rock the boat.
“It’s no pressure,” Thomas said. “I don’t believe in pressure. I work way too hard to think about pressure. When I get healthy, the world knows what I bring to the table.
“I know how to win. I want to put that in these guy’s heads: Why can’t we beat anybody in the NBA? Why can’t we be one of the top teams in the NBA?”
