Thomas in Kings' Trademark Second-Year Swoon Sacramento: Where promising rookie years fall off a cliff. That's probably not what you'll see scrawled on the welcome sign heading into California's capital, but the phenomenon has been a real one for the Kings, whose second-year point guard, Isaiah Thomas, has gone from possible star in the making to pine-saddled afterthought in the early part of this season. Taken with the 60th - read: dead last - pick in the 2011 N.B.A. draft, Thomas's rookie campaign was a picture of steady improvement, with each month showing upticks across the statistical board. His final line - 16.3 points (on 45 percent shooting, including 38 percent from long distance), 5.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per 36 minutes - was good enough to merit second team All-Rookie honors and the conventional wisdom had it that the aimless Kings had finally found their on-court compass. As a narrative, Thomas's plucky ascendance made for a nice juxtaposition to the relative floundering of college mega-star and lottery pick Jimmer Fredette, whom the Kings acquired in a three-team draft day deal. He has yet to carve out a rotational niche and his playing time - halved from 18 minutes per game to just more than nine this season - has suffered accordingly. Where Fredette failed to instantly mimic the collegiate heroics that helped make him a household name, Thomas (all 5-9 of him) seemed wholly uninterested in letting size or lack of pedigree stand in his way. On a team so redundant in its weaponry, Thomas last year marshaled - at times, anyway - a poised fluidity unbecoming a rookie in the sport's most important position. Thomas's combination of speed, strength, and quickness, magnified by a low center of gravity, is often a nuisance for would-be defenders and his improved outside shooting touch keeps them honest. Most interesting about Thomas's recently reduced role - punctuated by a 20 percent reduction in minutes from 25.5 to 20.4 - is how little the numbers justify it; his points (down 1.4 per 36 minutes), field goal percentage (down a quarter of a percent), three point shooting (down .008 percent) have all regressed somewhat, but nowhere near what you'd expect from an All-Rookie selection suddenly buried on the bench. And while his assist numbers (down from 5.8 to 3.5) might hint at more deep-seated issue, even that drop-off is tempered by Sacramento's bottom-dwelling shooting prowess (20th in the league through Monday). It all came to a head last Friday night when Kings Coach Keith Smart benched the ostensibly injury-free Thomas during a two-point loss in Utah. Details about a possible feud have yet to crystallize, though both Smart and Thomas are known for their headstrong ways. Then again, a simpler explanation - the off-season acquisition of journeyman point guard Aaron Brooks - might well be the best. Though Brooks' numbers (13.5 points and 3.4 assists on 48 percent shooting) haven't exactly set Cowbell Kingdom ablaze, Smart may be using the veteran's presence as motivational fodder for the still-maturing Thomas. Whatever the genesis, Thomas's struggles mark trends with which Kings fans have grown sadly familiar. The most obvious example is Tyreke Evans, the former No. 4 pick who continues to default on a stellar 2010 rookie-of-the-year campaign with annually dwindling output. Even supposed cornerstone DeMarcus Cousins has experienced an early falling in what was supposed to be a breakout campaign, though his slump is easily the ripest for a turnaround. On a team so riddled with question marks, Smart's prolonged point guard head games could prove prudent, or they could prove disastrous. There's no doubt that Thomas is young enough and talented enough to turn things around. But it's also true that the blessings thus far afforded him - by draft status, by diminutive stature, by classic underdog ambush - might just as easily become career-stunting curses.