Lance Thomas, F, New York Knicks: Speaking of malleability as a skill: Part of Thomas' value is that he can defend wings and power forwards, so that Anthony can rest on the least threatening opposing player. Against Golden State, Thomas spent time on both Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Against Toronto, he flipped between DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson.
When Melo wanted to catch his breath against P.J. Tucker, Thomas chased Mirza Teletovic around the perimeter. He's alert tracking both his man and the ball, he slides his feet well, and he studies opposing personnel; Thomas pays extra attention to snipers, and drifts away from bricky outside shooters.
He'll gamble for steals now and then, and he provides zippo rim protection; Thomas has blocked just seven shots all season. But he has been solid, and shockingly competent on offense. When Phil Jackson
labeled Thomas "a good shooter" upon acquiring him in the Iman Shumpert/J.R. Smith dump, I almost short-circuited my laptop with a spit take. Was Phil delusional?
Welp, Thomas is 37-of-88 from deep after making just seven 3-pointers
combined over his first four seasons, and he's even launching contested 3s from the corner -- a key spot in the triangle. Defenders are actually starting to run out at Thomas, and when they do, he bolts by them for wackadoo floaters and midrangers (see video at link):
Those blow-bys come easier when the Knicks pair Thomas and Anthony at the forward spots; opponents usually hide their power forward on Thomas so that they can keep their best wing defender on Anthony, and that gives Thomas a big speed advantage. He can fill any station in the triangle, and he's a willing passer.
