The Toronto Raptors are reportedly signing Valencia shooting guard Matt Thomas to a three-year, $4.2-million contract.
Here’s a little more on the American sharpshooter who spent the last two seasons playing professionally in Spain, and what he might be able to bring to the Raptors.
Age: 24
Position: Shooting guard
Height: Six-foot-four | Weight: 200 lbs
Former Team: Valencia (Liga ACB)
2018-19 stats (all competitions): PPG: 12.1 | FG%: 51.4 | 3P%: 48.1
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Pre-professional pedigree
Before diving into the nitty gritty of what Thomas brings from a pure-basketball perspective, it’s worth noting that while he might seem like an unknown figure now, back when he was in high school he was really making a name for himself.
A native of small town Onalaska, Wisc., in Thomas’s senior year at Onalaska High School, he averaged 28.3 points and 9.7 rebounds and even had a game that saw him drop 50 points in a little more than two quarters.
Thomas’s prep exploits were enough to make him the No. 51-ranked recruit in the class of 2013, according to ESPN — just one rank lower than future lottery pick Zach LaVine.
Following that sterling final high school season, Thomas committed to Iowa State where he began his true freshman season in 2013 as an immediate starter — just the 20th Cyclones freshman to start a season opener. Despite this confidence in Thomas to begin with, it eventually waned and he was placed in a sixth-man role after 15 games to start that 2013-14 campaign.
Thomas would finish his freshman year averaging only 5.5 points per game and shooting 33.6 per cent from three-point range. He would have an equally disappointing sophomore season (4.9 points, 33 per cent from deep) that was particularly marred by a two-day jail stint after getting arrested for an “operating while intoxicated” charge that saw him serve a three-game suspension enforced by the Cyclones to start his season.
That poor sophomore year appeared to be something of a wake-up call for Thomas as in his junior season he started to flashing signs of what his true potential could be, averaging 11 points and shooting 43.2 per cent from three-point range as he started 27 games for Iowa State because of a season-ending injury to Canadian guard Naz Mitrou-Long that season.
Finally, in his senior year, Thomas was placed back into the starting lineup full-time from the jump and enjoyed a strong final collegiate year, averaging 12.3 points and shooting a scorching 44.5 per cent from outside.
That 2016-17 season at Iowa State served as a pre-cursor to how the rest of his career would take shape.
Unconventional professional beginnings
Thomas went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft, but managed to get a Summer League invite where he played for the Los Angeles Lakers and ended up winning the 2017 Summer League championship.
Through eight games played in Summer League, Thomas averaged 9.7 points and shot an incredible 62.2 per cent from the field including a 60.2 per cent clip from outside and a 23-point, 8-for-9 title-game performance.
Still, despite the standout effort in the Summer League it looks like the kind of NBA interest Thomas was hoping to garner there didn’t develop, leading him to sign with Spanish club Monbus Obradoiro to start his pro career.
While with Obradoiro Thomas starred, leading the team in scoring with a 15.4 average, while shooting 45.9 per cent from three-point range.
Following that stint he signed with Valencia for last season where his marksman talents were finally undeniable.
In 29 league games, Thomas finished second on the team, scoring 11.4 points per game on 51.1 per cent shooting from the field and 48.5 per cent from deep. More impressively, though, was what he did in EuroCup play.
Like Europa League in European club soccer, EuroCup is the second-tier cross-Europe basketball competition behind EuroLeague. In this competition, last season, Thomas led the team with a 12.7-per-game scoring average in 23 games played, shooting 51.8 per cent from the field and 47.7 per cent from outside.
Beyond the strong total competition numbers, however, is the spectacular performance Thomas had in Game 3 of the 2019 EuroCup Finals against Alba Berlin, scoring 19 points and shooting 5-for-7 from outside to lead Valencia to its fourth EuroCup trophy in club history.
Eurocup Champs!!!!! pic.twitter.com/r7W16bn3uL
— Matthew W. Thomas (@Theiceman_21) April 16, 2019
Fuelled by the 2018-19 season he had with Valencia, it looks like Thomas managed to convince the Raptors to swoop in and offer him the kind of contract he’d been looking for all along to make his NBA debut.
He can shoot the ever-living hell out of the ball
And now for the actual reason why you clicked on this post in the first place: What Thomas could actually bring to the Raptors.
First and foremost, as you’ve probably already figured out by now, Thomas is an insanely accurate shooter. [sidebar]
As Synergy Sports points out, Thomas sported an outrageous effective field-goal percentage of 82 per cent on catch-and-shoot jumpers, a figure that increases to an ungodly 99 per cent on unguarded catch-and-shoot shots.
We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that’s pretty damn good. But even more impressively than his shooting percentages is the quantity of shots he’s putting up while still maintaining this great rate.
Through his two seasons in Spain, Thomas has averaged 4.9 attempts from three-point range per game while keeping up a great 47.2-per cent mark, making him the rare shooter who has managed to perfectly blend quantity and quality.
The best example of what this all looks like in an actual game is that third and deciding game of the 2019 EuroCup Finals with Berlin that saw Thomas go 7-for-12 from the field and 5-for-7 from deep.
Taking a closer look at that game we see a number of ways Thomas manages to get his shot off.
This includes, as mentioned before, as an accurate catch-and-shoot guy:
The ability to utilize a ball fake to create needed separation for his shot:
A great understanding to read defences, use screens and move without the ball to get himself open:
And more encouraging yet about Thomas is the fact he doesn’t seem to only be a shooting specialist as he’s flashed both the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the cup and a passing ability that will be necessary at the NBA level.
This is all to say that Thomas has the potential to be a useful piece for the Raptors as a depth three-point specialist. He won’t be able to replace what Danny Green brings to the table as a three-and-D player, as defence isn’t really his strong suit, but there will always be times when the Raptors — or any other NBA team — will need three-point shooters on the floor to at least help space the floor.
And the fact that Thomas is a guy who’s more likely to knock down passes that come his way is a definitely a plus.
