Isaiah Thomas is in Los Angeles and talking about his future plans with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The guard was traded to L.A. on Thursday in a deal that ended his time in Cleveland after just 15 games on the floor. Initial reports from his agent indicated that he wasn’t willing to come off the bench in favor of rookie Lonzo Ball, but now that he’s on the ground, it seems that Thomas has changed his tone.
Following the later reports that he’s “ecstatic” to be in L.A., he exuded enthusiasm and a willingness to do whatever he can to help the Lakers win now.
🎥 Isaiah Thomas talks about the trade that brought him to LA and what he can contribute to the purple and gold. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/Zs4iFH2J2c
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 10, 2018
“I would love to be a starter. I feel like I deserve that, I earned that. At the same time it’s a new chapter for me,” Thomas said. “I’m here to help this team, help these young guys. Continue to be professional, continue to work hard, continue to gel together.”
Thomas was asked about his agent’s report, and deflected to say he just wants to help the team play well.
“Right now they’ve been playing well,” Thomas said. “I don’t want to mess with that, and I’ve told Luke that. Whatever they need me to do that’s what I’ll do.”
LeBron James admitted that he thought Thomas was “behind the eight ball” in Cleveland, and now that IT is gone and the roster is changed up, the team will have “fun” again. That’s a line Thomas mirrored on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m just ready to go out there and play and have fun again,” Thomas said.
The biggest point Thomas stressed is that the Lakers need to win right now.
It kind of reminds me of the same situation when I got traded to Boston. It was a young team. They was thinking rebuild but we had some different thoughts than that and we made a push to the playoffs.
That’s my job to come to this team and bring that spirit, that fire. That killer’s mentality, and just understand that we can take advantage of this opportunity we have. It’s about winning. And winning right now.
Thomas is right: he needs the Lakers to do well right now. He’s a free agent this summer and hasn’t proven himself this year after a major injury. While many in Los Angeles are looking to the summer and beyond, Thomas needs to show something right now.
