Report: Suns sign Isaiah Thomas to 4-year, $27 million deal in S&T with Kings
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The Phoenix Suns can't get enough point guards on the roster.
Suns and Kings are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal on a four-year, $27M contract for Isaiah Thomas, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 11, 2014
Sacramento restricted free agent Isaiah Thomas has reached agreement on an offer sheet with Phoenix, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 11, 2014
The Kings will get an approximately $7 million trade exception and the draft rights to Alex Oriakhi, league source says.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) July 11, 2014
It's difficult to make sense of the deal without a subsequent move down the line. The Phoenix Suns already boast a pair of starting point guards in Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, and adding Isaiah Thomas to the mix seems like overkill.
However, each player is excellent in their own right. Dragic, Thomas and Bledsoe ranked sixth, seventh and 12th among guards last season in PER. The 24-year-old Thomas also averaged 20.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game as a member of the Sacramento Kings.
The knock against Thomas is his height, or lack thereof. He stands at 5-foot-9, which leads him to be a minus defender. It also makes it difficult to play him in two-point guard lineups, which further adds to the confusion over this move.
In executing a sign-and-trade, the Kings net themselves a trade exception in the form of Isaiah's outgoing contract value. His days in Sacramento were numbered, especially after the Kings inked Darren Collison last week.