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Shams Charania of The Athletic and Watch Stadium is reporting that point guard Isaiah Thomas of the Denver Nuggets has been assigned to the G League for a rehab stint.
In next step toward imminent return, Denver Nuggets' Isaiah Thomas has been assigned to the NBA G League for rehab assignment, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2019
Shortly after the Sham-Wow, however, the Denver media followed up with an important clarification—IT will not actually play in the G League. T.J. McBride of Mile High Sports was the first to chime in:
I have been told that there is no G-League stint for Isaiah Thomas. The goal was to get some practice time with the Blue Coats with the Nuggets already in Philadelphia today, but there seems to be a lack of healthy bodies so Thomas will not be headed to the G-League for now.
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) February 8, 2019
Zach Bye of 104.3 the fan followed up with a similar report, adding that Thomas could play for Denver as soon as Monday.
Source: Isaiah Thomas will NOT play a single game in GLeague. “Zero % chance.” With Denver not practicing 5-5 regularly they were looking to get IT run. Formality on paper to participate in that practice led to report. He’s staying w/ Nuggets. Could play for Nugz soon as Monday. https://t.co/PIhj1DQzHR
— Zach Bye (@byesline) February 8, 2019
A mid-February return would certainly fit the timeline that Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN laid out about a month ago, but that was the second report from Woj regarding a possible return—the first stating that Thomas expected to play in December, a timeline the team itself never endorsed. When speaking with head coach Michael Malone shortly after the second report from Woj, he urged the media “not to believe everything you read”.
It’s still unclear what exactly the timeline looks like but it appears that IT’s return is on the horizon.
EDIT: This post has been updated to reflect the proper credit for reporting. The original version credited Zach Bye as first on the follow up which was incorrect. McBride was first.