By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
Unicaja Malaga has reached an agreement to add American shooting guard Matt Thomas to its roster.
The 32-year-old player has initially signed a two-month contract, although the agreement includes the possibility of extending his stay until the end of the season.
Matt Thomas has extensive experience in top-level competitions, such as the Liga Endesa, the EuroLeague, and the NBA. After completing his college career at Iowa State, he began his professional career in Spain with Monbus Obradoiro during the 2017-18 season. In his first season in the ACB, he averaged 15.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.
His performance sparked the interest of Valencia Basket, the team he joined the following season. With the Valencian team, he averaged 11.4 points per game in the Liga Endesa and 12.7 points in the EuroCup, a competition in which he particularly excelled with a 47.7% three-point shooting percentage, ultimately winning the title. Furthermore, in 2019 he won the ACB Three-Point Contest.
After establishing himself in Spanish basketball, the American made the leap to the NBA. Between 2019 and 2022, he played for the Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, and Chicago Bulls. During his time in the American league, he played a total of 126 games, with a 40.4% three-point shooting percentage.
In January 2023, he returned to European basketball to join Panathinaikos. With the Greek team, he played 10 EuroLeague games, averaging 8.1 points and 2 rebounds, with a 40.5% three-point shooting percentage.
That same summer, he headed to Germany to play for ALBA Berlin, where he remained during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. In the German BBL, he went from averaging 4.1 points in his first season to reaching 14.6 in his second. Last season, Thomas returned to the Liga Endesa with Coviran Granada. In the 14 games he played with the Andalusian team, he averaged 14.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game, with three three-pointers made per game and a remarkable 46.1% success rate. In January 2016, he began a new chapter with Turkish club Besiktas, with whom he played in the Eurocup until the end of the season.
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