A Mad Men guide to the 2018-19 NBA Season

“I’m not a solution to your problems. I’m another problem.” — Denver Nuggets

It’s been just over 18 months since Isaiah Thomas first suffered a bruised hip in a meaningless, late-season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It’s been 15 months since he finished fifth in the MVP voting, and 14 months since he told the Celtics they’d need to back up the Brinks truck to keep him (and wore these sandals to prove it).

It’s been 13 months since Danny Ainge coldly dealt him to Boston’s chief rival as an attempted Trojan horse, nine months since he played his first game for the Cavs, eight months since he played his last game for the Cavs, and two months since he signed a one-year, league minimum contract to be the Denver Nuggets backup point guard.

So no, the last year and a half have not gone according to plan for the best five-foot-anything player the NBA has seen since Allen Iverson.

For Denver, getting Thomas at roughly the same price as they’ll pay Torrey Craig this year seems like a no-brainer. Here’s the problem: if he’s himself again, he’s running the offense, and you’re stunting the growth of your franchise point guard, 21-year-old Jamal Murray, in the process. If he’s bad, well…then he’s bad.

There are worse problems to have, but it’s one that has been taken on by a team clearly desperate to make the playoffs at all costs. The unfortunate part is that if Denver had taken a slightly longer view over the last couple of years, they might have already started to envision some loftier goals.