The first year LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he famously told Kevin Love (allegedly) to stop trying to “fit out”, and start trying to “fit in”.
He may have the same message now for new teammate Isaiah Thomas, who is struggling to find his place with the wine and gold since returning to the starting lineup.
Thomas seems to be playing like he did with the Celtics, being a high volume shooter, which was needed in Boston, because they really didn’t have any other scoring threats.
In Thomas’ first year with the Celtics, he led the green in scoring at 22.2 points per game. The next two leading point makers were Avery Bradley (15.2) and Jae Crowder (14.2), and neither of those two are known as guys whose primary reason for being on the team is putting the ball in the hoop.
Last year, Thomas scored 28.9 points a night, with again Bradley (16.3) and Crowder (13.9) ranking next.
This year, with the Cavaliers, Thomas is taking 26.4 shots per 100 possessions, the second highest rate of his career, behind only last season.
The difference is the wine and gold have plenty of other scoring options, namely LeBron James and Kevin Love. They also have several other guys known for putting the ball in the basket: Dwyane Wade, Kyle Korver, JR Smith among others.
So, it would seem Thomas needs to change his game, to fit in more into what the Cavaliers need to do to play winning basketball.
The other day in addressing the media, Thomas basically said that’s what here for, he’s a scorer, and if they don’t want him to score, then why did the Cavs trade for him.
That doesn’t seem to sound like a player who is trying to adapt to his new surroundings, or fit in to a team that has advanced to The Finals in each of the last three years, beating Boston in two of those three years, does it?
When the Cavs were playing well, winning 18 of 19 games with Jose Calderon playing the point, we felt if Thomas came in and played like Calderon, albeit penetrating a little more often, the Cleveland offense would be unstoppable.
Instead, they have a player who seems to have his own agenda on the floor. Thomas is forcing bad shots, driving into two or three players without leaving himself an angle to find a teammate, and all the while playing poor defense, which isn’t a surprise.
He seems like he is aware he will be a free agent at the end of this season, and is trying to put up numbers, instead of being part of a winning basketball team.
If he wants to see an example of how to make the transition, he could look at this current teammate, Kevin Love.
Love was a high volume scoring in Minnesota, on a team that never made the playoffs, and he changed his role in Cleveland.
Perhaps that’s the problem, as Thomas’ Celtics went to the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, with him playing the way he is now.
However, with the Cavs, Thomas is another weapon, not “the weapon”. He has the best player in the sport on his squad in LeBron James. He has another all star in Love, plus an all time great in Wade.
Thomas could be a big help to the Cavs if he would decide to fit in with the wine and gold style of play and learn to play off of James. Can he do that?
If not, then the Cavs probably have to make his tenure with the team a short one. They may not have a choice.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 