As the NBA continues it’s unique evolution, there are certain athletic archetypes that tend to get cast aside: bigs who lack lateral quickness and smaller guards who can’t handle switches. We often tout the NBA as a small-ball league, but in reality, the smaller players are often at the biggest disadvantage.
There are few better examples of that trend than Isaiah Thomas, the 5-foot-9 point guard who finished top-five in MVP voting with the first-seeded Boston Celtics just one year ago. He became one of the league’s most effective individual scorers, possessing a dynamic pull-up game and craftiness that allowed him to score over larger defenders.