DENVER, July 16, 2018 – The Denver Nuggets have signed guard Isaiah Thomas to a one-year contract, President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Thomas, 29, was selected out of the University of Washington with the 60th overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. The seven-year veteran has gone on to become a two-time NBA All-Star, was named to the 2016-17 All-NBA Second Team and has won the NBA’s Player of the Month Award three times and Player of the Week Award five times. He has averaged over 20.0 points in three seasons, including a career-high 28.9 points per game in 2016-17 with Boston.
“It’s not every day you have the chance to add a player with the talent and pedigree of Isaiah Thomas,” said Connelly. “Isaiah is a player that we know will work extremely hard every single day he steps onto the basketball court and will do anything he can to help our team win. We are excited to add Isaiah to our already explosive core and we can’t wait to get started.”
The Tacoma, Washington native has appeared in 473 games (324 starts) and posted career averages of 18.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 29.8 minutes per game. He has shot .389 from beyond the arc and .877 from the free throw line throughout his seven NBA seasons. Thomas played under Denver Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone in Sacramento during the 2013-14 season where he put up then career-high averages of 20.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.30 steals per game.
In 2014-15, Thomas joined the Boston Celtics where he helped lead them back to the playoffs following a 25-57 campaign the previous season. He was named to his first All-Star team in 2015-16, appearing in all 82 games and averaging 22.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.11 steals per game. He followed that campaign up by ranking third in the NBA in scoring (28.9 ppg) and second in free throw percentage (.909) in 2016-17 while being named an All-Star for the second consecutive season.
Thomas has appeared in 25 career playoff games, averaging 22.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. The Celtics made the postseason in each of his three seasons there, highlighted by a run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016-17 and a career-high 53 points vs. Washington in the second round that same year.