Bucks interim head coach Joe Prunty became the fourth coach in the past two weeks to bring up the subject without being asked during his press conference before facing the Knicks.
That is, the topic of Knicks backup forward Lance Thomas, Prunty mentioning him as one of the “under-the-radar” players helping key the club’s resurgence from last season’s 17-65 disgrace.
Boston coach Brad Stevens, Detroit’s Stan Van Gundy and Chicago’s Fred Hoiberg also recently gave Thomas his kudos, each calling him one of the league’s “most improved players.’’ Knicks coach Derek Fisher fell in love with Thomas since Day 1, but is almost never asked about his play.
Yet other than Kristaps Porzingis for Rookie of the Year — a topic that gets daily consideration — the Knicks’ strongest candidate for a postseason award could be that amorphous Most Improved Player Award with Thomas. His two-way ferocity off the bench is getting noticed around the NBA.
Thomas usually is not on the highlight reel, though he was in Sunday night’s 100-88 win over Milwaukee. After a sequence of great ball movement, which was on display from the Knicks all evening, Thomas received a pass in the left corner behind the 3-point line. Thomas made a great pump fake and drove the baseline for a thunderous one-handed dunk that had the Garden fans out of their seats.
Yes, the same Thomas whom the Knicks obtained last Jan. 5 from Oklahoma City in the three-team fire sale deal and initially waived. Sunday — Jan. 10 — marked the one-year anniversary of the Knicks re-signing him to his first 10-day deal.
Against Milwaukee, Thomas was 6 of 9 for 13 points, his 3-point shot improving by leaps and bounds. His 15-pound weight gain — all muscle — has made him arguably their best defender, and he can defend all five positions. He has discussed how much his stamina has increased, giving him the ability to expend as much energy on defense as offense.
For now, NBA coaches are talking up Thomas more than the media and fans. Thomas signed this offseason for a little more than the minimum — a one-year, $1.5 million deal. But come July 1, when Thomas becomes a free agent again, the fans may become disappointed when Knicks president Phil Jackson is unable to re-sign him because of his growing price tag.
The Brooklyn-born Duke product is shooting an excellent 47.7 percent — 41.6 from 3-point range — and averaging 8.7 points per game. Until this season, Thomas never had a 3-point shot, attempting 22 in his first four seasons. He’s already taken 77 this season and it’s mid-January. It would seem that vague Most Improved Player Award is meant for the kind of season Thomas is weaving.
Other Milwaukee observations:
• Jose Calderon’s incredible plus-34 in 29 minutes (with three steals and seven assists) becomes even more noticeable when you consider backup rookie point guard Jerian Grant posted a minus-12 in 16 minutes. Remember all those fans who desperately wanted Grant to start over Calderon in November?
• Fisher is enjoying his new nine-man rotation, but if he wanted to get crazy, he could go to a taut eight-man group like the one employed by Miami’s Erik Spoelstra. After the ever-improving starting five, the only three guys off the bench clearly deserving of real minutes are Thomas, Derrick Williams and Langston Galloway. That would eliminate Grant’s playing time. Sounds like a playoff rotation.
• Center Robin Lopez gets more confident in the low post and more relaxed in a frontcourt tandem with Porzingis by the game. Lopez’s 13-point, nine-rebound outing against the Bucks doesn’t even rate as an outburst. Yes, Bucks center Greg Monroe, whom the Knicks courted before Lopez, looked solid offensively on the block (28 points), but people around the league are starting to question Monroe’s “winning” effect on teams. Monroe spent five years in Detroit, all losing, non-playoff seasons. Monroe leaves and the Pistons emerge as a winning, playoff-position club. Monroe joins the Bucks, and a playoff team from last season is now limping along at 15-24.