Isaiah Thomas has fired his agent.
Nobody panic.
From AZ Central’s Paul Coro:
With news of Thomas firing his agent, Andy Miller, two weeks ago and with him becoming trade-eligible this week, the dot-connectors went to work after Thomas’ comment to cbssports.com last month that the Suns situation “was not what I expected.”
Miller negotiated Thomas’ four-year, $27 million contract with Phoenix in July.
“It’s unrelated to the Suns,” Thomas said of firing his agent. “I lost trust in the guy. That’s all it is. Professional reasons. Personal reasons as well. People, I’ve seen, say I want to be traded and things like that. Nah, that happened two weeks ago.”
Thomas was indirect about his role when asked more about it.
Asked if he was good with the current situation, Thomas said, “I’m not OK with losing, so I don’t think anybody is OK with what is going on right now. We’ve got to figure it out.”
Asked if he was good with his individual situation, Thomas said, “My family loves it. So if they’re happy, I’m happy. Like I said, we’re losing now. And, no, I’m not OK with the situation right now because we are on a six-game losing streak. I’m not OK with it.”
The timing of Thomas’ decision is admittedly odd. Players who signed contracts over the offseason became eligible to be traded on Dec. 15, and his agent’s dismissal coincides with the unofficial beginning of the NBA’s trade season. With his playing time down and the Phoenix Suns sitting outside the Western Conference’s playoff picture, it’s wholly possible Thomas is unhappy with his situation and bracing for change.
That being said, trust issues, like the ones Thomas claims he had with agent Andy Miller, aren’t on a schedule. These things happen. Players’ brain trusts change. They fire agents. Miller’s dismissal is likely unrelated to Thomas’ future in Phoenix.
Not that his future is etched in marble or anything.
With Goran Dragic set to enter free agency and more than $100 million invested in Thomas and Eric Bledsoe, the Suns have some decisions to make. Are they prepared to invest even more in their crowded backcourt rotation—Gerald Green is a free agent too, mind you—or is it perhaps time for them to unload one of their point guards?
At 13-14 and tracking toward another lottery finish, bet on change. The Suns won’t make the playoffs. They won’t. Both they and the Oklahoma City Thunder are one game under .500, and with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant healthy, there’s no way the latter misses out on the dance.
So if you’re the Suns, what’s the point of maintaining the status quo, when the status quo isn’t good enough? They should have at least two lottery picks to their name this summer, but internal development only gets them so far. This is a team that clearly wanted to compete now. Their best course of action is moving one of Dragic, Bledsoe or Thomas in hopes of landing an impact interior presence.
To that end, Thomas should be safe. Maybe. It seems more likely the Suns would deal Bledsoe or Dragic, because they’re more likely to yield bigger gains. This, of course, is assuming the Suns make any moves at all. For now, Thomas and his point guard brethren are in Phoenix, trying to find their spot within the brutal Western Conference, the threat of change ever-present.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
