Purchase this edition of Hangtimes Check out other Sixers Publications

by John DiCarlo

It seemed like an odd connection at first.

Kenny Thomas, who had played his college ball at New Mexico and was now playing for the Houston Rockets, was working out in Philadelphia during the summer against the likes of Sixers guard Aaron McKie and some of his teammates at the 76ers Practice Facility.

It wasn’t as if Thomas grew up in Philadelphia before going to New Mexico. His family moved to Albuquerque, N.M., just before his senior year of high school, from Douglasville, Ga., a place Thomas still calls home.

But Thomas’ agent was based in Philadelphia, so McKie and the others always had an idea of what Thomas could do on the basketball court. They just might not have imagined that Thomas would one day be wearing a Sixer uniform.

But when Sixers coach Larry Brown and General Manager Billy King had the opportunity to acquire Thomas, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound forward, from the Rockets in a three-team deal back in December, they didn’t pass it up.

“Kenny is a player that has worked out here in Philly a lot,” King said the day of the trade. “Larry and I have been looking and trying to get him. We loved him down in Houston and asked them for Kenny because he can play the three or the four. He fits in with how we want to play. Just in watching our team and how it is made up, we felt that we needed to add that.”

What the Sixers added in Thomas was a scorer with solid range from 15 to 16 feet and an athletic rebounder who can play defense. And, as is typical with their player evaluation, the Sixers coveted Thomas for his versatility.

“He can post up or make the jump shot,” King said. “I think he will be a great complement to Keith (Van Horn), Derrick (Coleman) and to all of our big guys because he can play with any of them. He can play even the small forward at times. That is the great thing about it. I don’t think he is limited to one position.”

“	He fits in with how we want to play. Just in watching our team and how it is made up, we felt that we needed to add that.” — GM Billy King on Kenny Thomas

When Thomas arrived in Philadelphia, Brown asked him to model his game after a former Sixers forward who was a key cog in the run to the 2001 NBA Finals.

“He just told me he wanted me to play like a George Lynch,” Thomas said, “just play tough defense and grab rebounds.”

Lynch was known as a tough and smart defender in his time with the Sixers, and Thomas would like to be known for those characteristics, too. But with all due respect to Lynch, Thomas is a more explosive scorer.

Prior to coming to the Sixers, Thomas was averaging 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds in 20 games, 14 of which he started. He poured in a season-high 29 points against Lynch and the New Orleans Hornets back on Dec. 6.

A first-round selection (22nd overall) of the Rockets in the 1999 NBA Draft out of the University of New Mexico, Thomas had career averages of 9.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in 238 games with Houston. His best season as a pro came during the 2001-02 campaign, when he averaged 14.1 points and 7.2 rebounds. Having averaged 7.1 points per game the previous season, Thomas enjoyed the largest increase in scoring average among NBA players.

Acquiring Thomas has also allowed forward Monty Williams, who reinjured his left knee after just four games this season, to recover at a slower pace. In Williams’ absence, Thomas actually started seven of his first 14 games in Philadelphia. But starters minutes aren’t as important to him as adjusting to his new settings.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen once Monty gets back, but I’m not worried about that,” said Thomas. “I just want him to get healthy. I’m just trying to adjust to everything here, where I’m supposed to be on offense and where I need to be at other times on the floor.”

Thomas averaged 9.1 points and 7.6 rebounds in his first 14 games with the Sixers this season while learning on the fly. Despite popular belief that Brown, a defensive-minded coach, runs very basic offensive schemes, Thomas said the offense in Philadelphia is a bit more involved than what he was used to in Houston.

“Down there, we just basically spread and let the guards penetrate and feed off of that,” Thomas explained. “Here, there’s a lot more cutting and movement you have to stay on top of.”

Being traded 20 games into the season isn’t an ideal situation for a player, but Thomas is well aware that the NBA is a business. Things can change in the blink of an eye. From the time he stepped onto New Mexico’s campus as a highly touted recruit, Thomas has always tried to take everything in stride.

“	I don’t know what’s going to happen once Monty gets back, but I’m not worried about that” — Kenny Thomas

If there were expectations upon his arrival at New Mexico, Thomas certainly lived up to them. During Thomas’ four-year college career, the Lobos enjoyed four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and the best four-year record in school history at 102-30. While in college, Thomas also played on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1997 World University Games in Trapani, Italy. He became the first player in Western Athletic Conference history to record 1,800 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks. He turned down the opportunity to turn pro after his junior season and instead returned to record 34 double-doubles, becoming the first player at New Mexico in 23 years to average a double-double for an entire season at 17.8 points and 10 rebounds per game.

As King said, the Sixers had their eye on Thomas during his time with the Rockets. Last year, in an early-season November matchup with the Sixers, Thomas was the catalyst in a 77-72 Rockets win, scoring six of the Rockets’ 13 fourth-quarter points in just seven minutes. He finished with 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals and recorded three of Houston’s four blocks. Defensively, he was the main reason why the Sixers’ Coleman, who is three inches and 25 pounds larger than Thomas, was held to just four shots in the final quarter.

After the game, Coleman told The Houston Chronicle he was “a Kenny Thomas fan.”

“I like his game,” Coleman said that night. “He’s versatile, and he’s a very smart player. When he’s playing against a bigger guy like me, he knows he’s quicker, and he knows he’s going to be able to penetrate … You can tell he’s a student of the game. He takes what you give him.”

Now, of course, Coleman and his teammates don’t have to look down to the opposing bench to find Thomas. They’re happy to have him around.

In the meantime, Thomas said he’ll continue to adjust to being with a new team in a new conference and a new city. Sixers forward Brian Skinner, who’s been traded three times in just five NBA seasons, knows what Thomas is going through.

“I know this league is a business, so I know how tough it is for someone to just pick up and go somewhere else,” Skinner said. “But Kenny’s done well with everything, and he’s giving us a lot right now. I think he’s doing fine, and I think he’s going to give us a lot as the season goes on.”