The Utah Jazz missed the mark with Isaiah Thomas

The Utah Jazz made a bold decision to bring in former All-Star Isaiah Thomas on a G-League contract. The deal was done more than likely as a make-good by Jazz lead Danny Ainge, who once oversaw Thomas in Boston. It was their time in Boston that effectively ended his run as an All-Star, playing through hip problems that would ultimately ruin his contract year and his career.

The way Boston handled Thomas and his injury has long been a source of criticism for Ainge and now Celtics president, then coach, Brad Stevens. So if Ainge signed Thomas simply as a make-good from their time in Boston together, that would make sense. That kind of thing is sort of expected, but what wasn't expected was for Thomas to make the most out of his four games with the Salt Lake City Stars.

Thomas played in just four games but averaged 32.5 points per game, while shooting 40.7% from the floor, 44.6% from three, and 90.9% from the free throw line. His performance caused a former team of his, the Phoenix Suns, to sign him to a 10-day contract to see if he can help them as they gear up for the playoffs. It was a move that many liked for the Suns, as acquiring Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal has made the Suns anything but flexible when it comes to adding new talent.

Thomas going to the Suns makes sense for Thomas, who's likely hoping to have a final chapter in the NBA worth having, and that may include winning an NBA Championship. The problem is that the Jazz could've kept Thomas, signing him to a deal and keeping him around for the rest of the season so he could, hopefully, move some tickets.

The team doesn't have a lot of good reasons left to care about the final few games of the season, and you can only fool yourself into caring about the growth of the young players enough times before the financial impact becomes too much. Thomas would have at least added an interesting wrinkle for the rest of the season, giving the Jazz a storyline they could've sold to the fans.

it's not like the team's trying to win, so why not have Thomas come in and take someone's job? It would've been exciting to see. Instead, we get to see the rookies more. Yay.