Just a few days after being traded to the New York Knicks from the Oklahoma City Thunder former Duke forward/center Lance Thomas has been cut.
On Wednesday Lance Thomas found himself without a job in the NBA. The path for Thomas to make it to the NBA hasn’t been an easy one. He has had to fight for every opportunity he has received.
After Thomas’s Duke career concluded he entered the NBA draft and ultimately went undrafted. Thomas was never a star at Duke. He was a role player for his Duke career. But he understood what his role was and it proved to be beneficial for the Blue Devils.
Nov 3, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Lance Thomas (42) drives around Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams (8) during the second quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
In his senior season he was named team captain along with Jon Scheyer. In his senior season, 2009-2010, the Duke Blue Devils won the National Championship and Thomas played a key role for that team. He provided toughness, defense and leadership.
To succeed on the NBA level you need to be tough and fit a role. Unless of course you are a superstar then your talent is what leads you. Thomas was never a superstar, but he found a way to make it in the league.
Thomas spent the 2010-2011 season with the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League and earned a contract for the next season. In 2011-2012 Thomas spent about half of his season with the New Orleans Hornets. He appeared in 42 games and even started in 10 of those games. He averaged four points and three rebounds while playing 15 minutes per game. A respectable stat line for a player trying to find his role.
During that same season Thomas signed two consecutive 10-day contracts with the Hornets and then was signed for the remained of the season. It seemed like he had finally found a home in the NBA. In 2012-2013 Thomas played 59 games and started nine games with the New Orleans Hornets. He averaged 2.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes of play.
In 2013-2014 the New Orleans Pelicans, formerly the Hornets, waived Thomas. With a month of no contracts Thomas signed in China to play the rest of the season.
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In 2014-2015 Thomas was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder and was having his best season of his career. He greatly benefited from numerous injuries to Thunder players. Thomas was averaging 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.5 minutes. Thomas started 13 out of the 22 games he played in.
When the Thunder got healthy Thomas lost his spot in the rotation and became expendable. Once he was traded to the New York Knicks there were reports that he would be released for salary reasons.
The question now becomes where does Thomas wind up? He is in a tough position because of his size and skill set. He is too small to play power forward but doesn’t possess the skills to play small forward. It’s not that Thomas isn’t skilled or talented. He is an NBA player so of course he is talented. There is still time for Lance Thomas to make another NBA roster and continue his career in the NBA but where will he end up?