Los Angeles Lakers’ guard Isaiah Thomas to undergo hip surgery

After missing two games with a sore hip, Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right hip, according to the team.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas will likely miss the remainder of the season as he is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right hip, according to the team. Thomas, who has only played in 32 games this season, is seeing this year come to an end because of the same hip that ended his season last year. Thomas was only able to play in two of the Celtics’ Eastern Conference Games after a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear and decided to rehab the injury instead of opting for surgery.

Thomas was traded during the offseason and returned to the court on Jan. 2 with the Cavaliers. After struggling in Cleveland on the court, and potentially creating some strife in the locker room as well, Thomas was traded to Los Angeles. The point guard was playing relatively well off the bench before the injury.

Thomas missed the Lakers last two games after re-injuring the hip against the Detroit Pistons. Thomas traveled to New York to get his hip evaluated before deciding to undergo surgery.

Thomas is in a contract year and the hip surgery doesn’t help his cause as he potentially looks for a new home this summer. He’s expressed interest in staying with the Lakers, but the team’s primary focus will likely be on targeting one or a pair of the stars who become free agents this summer. If they don’t land one of their main targets they could be willing to bring Thomas back on a short-term deal.

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Thomas had his worst year on the court and there will be plenty of questions about his health. Thomas, when fully healthy, was an All-Star in the 2017 season and was excellent closing out games for the Celtics.