2. James Ennis is better than Isaiah Thomas
I know that there is a contingent of NBA fans who are going to disagree with me on this one and that is fine. Some are holding out hope for Thomas that he can somewhat return to form now that he appears to be healthy from his hip injury.
Sure, he dropped 81 points in a game but he was also very obviously trying to do so as an audition for NBA teams against guys who should be playing at their local gym. Any good NBA player would have done the same thing if they had the same goal.
Thomas simply is not that good of an NBA player anymore. He does not have the same explosiveness that he did in his prime, which really hurts with his size. That was the one thing that helped overcome his size and without it, he is held back.
He can be a decent off-ball shooter but having Thomas play off the ball as a three-point shooter would not help the team with his horrendous defense. Thomas might just be the worst defensive player in the league (if he were to play) the small offensive impact he could make would not overcome that.
Ennis might not have anything that jumps off the page but he is at least a good shooter and a good defender. I would take someone who is serviceable on both sides of the floor over someone who is maybe good on one end and terrible on the other end every day of the week.
If it comes down to James Ennis vs. Isaiah Thomas then the answer should be quite simple for the Los Angeles Lakers.