Isaiah Thomas, Dana Barros, and the Short Point Guard's Dilemma

Isaiah Thomas is short. Well, at least for his profession. Standing at 5'9", the third year point guard is an anomaly by NBA standards. His production makes him even more of an anomaly: he put up 20.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in his last year with the Sacramento Kings. However, when free agency came around, Thomas could barely even register any interest from the Kings. Sacramento eventually signed point guard Darren Collison to a three-year deal for $16 million.

"I'm not upset, they went in a different direction," says Thomas. "They wanted somebody else. They wanted somebody a little taller, but it is what it is … They gave me my first opportunity before anybody would and I can't thank them enough."

Thomas, who counts fellow mighty mite point guard Damon Stoudamire as a mentor, landed in Phoenix, where he will be one of four point guards expected to be in the Suns rotation. This isn't supposed to happen to a 25-year-old point guard coming off a 20.5 PER season, but Thomas had to settle for a four-year, $27 million contract with no guarantee of significant playing time. Just finding a team willing to take him on was enough.

"Like I tell people, [the Suns] wanted me for who I was. For being 5'9" and for being a scoring point guard. They like me for that and I felt wanted."

This is the same Isaiah Thomas who posted the twentieth best PER in the league last season, and had a lower salary than anyone above him. All that and he might end up being the Phoenix Suns' third option at point guard. From the outside looking in, it's an infuriating situation, but Thomas knows his lot in the league quite well.

"I always know that nobody ever gives me anything and I have to work for it, so this is nothing new for me," says Thomas. "Even for the next however many years I'm going to have to battle just because I'm not the tallest or most physical starting point guard. I'm not 6-foot [and] I'm not pass first. I'm not none of that."

Thomas' performance and ensuing free agency call back to the experiences of Dana Barros. Coming off of a special 1994-95 season during which Barros averaged 20.6 points per game, 7.5 assists per game, made what would be his only All-Star Game, won the Most Improved Player award, and even had a 50-point game against the defending champion Houston Rockets, Barros proved that he could perform as a 5'11" starting point guard. But when free agency came around, the Sixers balked.

"They had a budget," said Barros' agent at the time Frank Catapano. "I met with John Lucas who was the GM and they wanted to give him a three-year deal for $11 million [and] we thought the market was higher."

For his part, Barros echoes Thomas' gratitude in the face of becoming unwanted. "I was grateful for any team to give me a chance. [The Sixers] wanted me obviously," says Barros. "They traded for me, but at the same token they drafted B.J. Tyler as well, who was a first round pick at that time. My second year there, which was my All-Star year, I was basically just an insurance policy in case he didn't work out."

After flirting with the Washington Bullets, Barros signed with his hometown Boston Celtics, who had a crowded backcourt featuring Sherman Douglas, David Wesley, and Dee Brown all playing the point. "It was just a weird situation coming off of an All-Star year and kind of being in a pack of a bunch of players where everyone was good," says Barros.

Thomas is entering an eerily similar situation with a Phoenix Suns team that features Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, and rookie first round pick Tyler Ennis on the roster. Clearly, in a league deep with talented point guards, the space for undersized players at the position is getting smaller and smaller. In last season's playoffs, none of the 16 teams had a point guard listed under 6'0".

Still, Thomas sees in Phoenix an opportunity to play for a team that values his skillset, whether off the bench or out of the starting lineup. He knows that the team's success will define how he's valued down the road in his career.

"My specific goals are just to make the playoffs," says Thomas. "I know how hard I work and the work I put in, my individual success is going to come as long as we win." As it was for Barros, Thomas has no time to complain. He's already battling uphill.