Timothy Mark "Tim" Thomas (born on February 26, 1977, in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls.
Villanova University

A versatile 6'10" forward with a soft shooting touch, Thomas was tabbed as a future NBA star when he was still in high school, and was selected to the McDonald's All-American team after averaging 25.3 points and 14.5 rebounds per game as a senior at Paterson Catholic. Following his freshman year at Villanova University, he was drafted seventh overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 1997 NBA Draft and was immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the Sixers' draft pick (Keith Van Horn).

[edit] Philadelphia 76ers

Thomas enjoyed a solid rookie season, averaging 11.0 points per game, and was named to the NBA's All-Rookie 2nd Team. The Sixers would grow impatient with a sophomore slump from Thomas, though, and in 1999 he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks.

[edit] Milwaukee Bucks

Milwaukee was enamored with Thomas' raw talent and versatility, and hoped he could blossom into a star with more seasoning. It looked like things were coming together for Thomas during the 200001 season, when he averaged a career-high 13.4 ppg for the Bucks. On January 5, 2001, Thomas connected on eight three-point field goals in the second half of Milwaukee's 119115 victory over Portland, a record for 3-pointers in a half he shares with current Buck Michael Redd. During his time with the Bucks, then-teammate Ray Allen was quoted as saying, "If he wanted to, Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league."[1] This echoed similar sentiments from around the NBA that Thomas wasn't making the most of his considerable talents. Nevertheless, after a strong playoff performance that year, Thomas was rewarded with a large contract by owner Herb Kohl, a deal worth roughly $66 million over 6 years.The Bucks would end up regretting that decision when Thomas was unable to rediscover the spark he showed in 2001.

[edit] New York Knicks

In 2004 he was traded for Van Horn again, this time to the New York Knicks. Thomas' 1st tour of duty with the Knicks was rather nondescript (his most notable incident: after a playoff game against the New Jersey Nets, he referred to Kenyon Martin as "fugazy"), and on the eve of training camp in 2005 he was traded to the Chicago Bulls (along with Michael Sweetney) in a package that brought Eddy Curry to New York.

[edit] Chicago Bulls

Rather than dealing with Thomas' questionable conditioning habits & locker-room presence, Chicago chose to send him home for good in late 2005 and officially waived him in March 2006; he would finish that year with Phoenix.

[edit] Phoenix Suns

After bouncing around from team to team, Thomas rejuvenated his career in the 2006 playoffs, playing alongside two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash. On May 4, 2006, in game 6 of the first round of the Western Conference divisional playoffs, Thomas hit a game-tying three pointer with 6 seconds left in regulation to spare the 2nd seeded Phoenix Suns from elimination against the 7th seeded Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns went on to win that game in the overtime period when Thomas hit another important three-pointer to force a game 7; a game which they won by 31 points to claim the series and complete the 31 series comeback. With the Suns, he became known as the one who helped knock both the Lakers and Clippers out of the playoffs, before the team eventually lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.

[edit] Los Angeles Clippers

After his brilliant playoff performance, Thomas signed a four-year, $24 million contract with the Los Angeles Clippers on July 13, 2006. He played solid (if unspectacular) basketball for the Clippers, but again failed to live up to his high playoff standards, and was subsequently traded to the New York Knicks again on November 21, 2008.

[edit] New York Knicks

Upon arriving in New York again, Thomas was reunited with Mike D'Antoni, who coached the Suns in 2006.

[edit] Chicago Bulls

On February 19, 2009, Tim was traded yet again to the Bulls along with center Jerome James and guard Anthony Roberson in exchange for guard Larry Hughes just before the trade deadline.[2]

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