Matt Thomas's stint at Unicaja has come to an end ahead of schedule. The Málaga club announced on Friday that it has reached a mutual agreement with the American shooting guard to terminate their contract. In its statement, Unicaja thanked the player for "his work and professionalism" and wished him luck in his future endeavors.
A signing to cover for Kalinoski
Thomas arrived in Málaga in late September on a two-month contract with the option to extend through the end of the season. The club signed him to cover for Tyler Kalinoski's injury, which was expected to sideline him for several weeks. However, Kalinoski recovered ahead of schedule, leaving Thomas with very limited playing time in Txus Vidorreta's rotation.
That was compounded by the non-EU player limit. Thomas shared that quota with Kevin Knox and Cameron Hunt, and according to La Opinión de Málaga, he was Vidorreta's cut for the Matchday 7 game in Zaragoza. In the end, he played just five games for Unicaja across the Liga Endesa and the Basketball Champions League.
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Six three-pointers against Reggiana
His best performance came in the BCL against Pallacanestro Reggiana. Thomas scored 20 points with six three-pointers, the best mark by a Unicaja player in that competition, a record previously shared by other club players.
The 32-year-old shooting guard started last season at Covirán Granada, where he was one of the best shooters in the Liga Endesa. In January, he moved to Beşiktaş, where he had much less playing time, and the Turkish club announced his departure in July. Before that, he had played for Monbus Obradoiro and Valencia Basket, with whom he won the EuroCup in 2019. He later played in the NBA (Raptors, Jazz, and Bulls), Panathinaikos, and ALBA Berlin.