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According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Toronto Raptors are trading guard Matt Thomas to the Utah Jazz for a second-round pick.
Toronto is trading guard Matt Thomas to the Utah Jazz for a future second-round pick, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 25, 2021
The deal on its own is fairly unremarkable — Thomas has been a fixture on the bench and hasn’t been able to crack Nick Nurse’s rotation.
The real thing to note here is that it opens up a roster spot, one that might end up getting filled if the Raptors complete a Kyle Lowry trade that involves multiple players coming back. We’ll know soon enough whether that’s the case.
Back to this deal, The Athletic’s Blake Murphy has more details on the pick:
The Jazz are sending GSW's 2021 2nd to the Raptors in that Thomas deal, per a source.
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 25, 2021
So, a middle-of-the-pack second rounder, probably not something that’s going to move the needle.
It is a shame that Thomas never found a niche with the Raptors, as his one main skill — three-point shooting — is so valuable in today’s NBA. But Nurse was never able to trust Thomas on defense, and as sharp as his shooting was, Thomas doesn't have quite a quick enough release to get his shots off clean against fast NBA defenses.
In 67 games with the Raptors, Thomas averaged 4.1 points per game on 46% shooting from three-point range. The Jazz, meanwhile, are one of the the most three-ball happy teams in the league, so if Thomas is gonna find a fit anywhere in the NBA, Utah seems like a good spot.