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Report: Nuggets, Isaiah Thomas agree to 1-year, $2M deal

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

The Brinks truck didn't back up for Isaiah Thomas, but at least he has a deal.

The Denver Nuggets agreed to terms with the 5-foot-9 point guard on a one-year contract for the veteran's minimum of $2 million, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The move to the Mile High City reunites Thomas with Michael Malone, who was his head coach in 2013-14 while with the Sacramento Kings.

Thomas had reportedly been in recent contact with both Malone and Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly in Las Vegas, and he kept the lines of communication open via text.

While leading the 53-win Boston Celtics in 2016-17, Thomas ranked third in the Association in points per game and finished fifth in balloting for Most Valuable Player. A serious hip injury knocked him out of that postseason and kept him on the sidelines until January 2018, after he'd been shipped from the Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

His brief run with Cleveland left much to be desired (he averaged 14.7 points on 36.1 percent shooting in 27.1 minutes), and he was shown the door at February's trade deadline. Thomas made 17 appearances with the Los Angeles Lakers before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his ailing hip in March.

Canadian Jamal Murray is Denver's starting point guard, so Thomas will need to make the most of the minutes he receives coming off the bench. If he can maintain a clean bill of health and provide efficient offense and playmaking as a backup, he'll enter next summer's market with more hope of landing a richer deal.

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