Should Isaiah Thomas Start For The Celtics?

All the Celtics had to give up in exchange for Isaiah Thomas was Marcus Thornton and a late 2016 first round draft pick. Since Thornton’s contract expired this summer, he went on to sign a one-year deal with the Rockets for the veteran’s minimum. So, essentially all the Celtics had to surrender in return for their best player was a late first-rounder and fringe-NBA player.

Even more mind-boggling is how Thomas agreed to a front-loaded, 4 year/$27 million contract last summer. In an NBA landscape where role players have begun receiving $15+ million/year deals, the Celtics have Thomas at $6.9 million this season, $6.58 million in 2016-2017, and $6.26 in 2017-2018.

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Since signing that dirt cheap deal, Isaiah Thomas has fired his agent, cemented himself as Boston’s best player, and become the early favorite to win the 2015-2016 season’s sixth man of the year award. Hell, he would have won 6MOY last season if it wasn’t for Drake and his meddling campaign invoking fans to vote for Lou Williams. Thomas was better than Williams in nearly every statistical category and led his respective team in points per game, PER, win-shares per 48 minutes, assist percentage and usage. Oh, and he did that all in just 26 minutes a game.

Logic says never change a winning formula but Thomas has been adamant since day one about preferring to start. You have to respect Thomas’ candor since it reflects his honest personality and competitive spirit. Plus, his starter aspirations aren’t irrational by any means since he has a legitimate case for starting for the Celtics. He already plays starter minutes, so what difference would it make if he started?

The only discernible benefit of having Thomas come off the bench is the necessary boost he provides the second-unit. One fair argument I’ve seen, albeit unquantifiable, is that it helps Marcus Smart‘s self-esteem to start him over Thomas.

But the most popular justification for his bench status is his defense. Thomas is both intelligent and fast enough to guard the majority of his defensive assignments, but his size limits his team’s versatility. Virtually any switch on a pick-n’-roll creates an exploitable mismatch. In an evolving NBA that preaches defensive flexibility (ie: players capable of guarding multiple positions), Thomas is an ill-fitting piece on any team hoping to adopt this progressive culture.

Forget about starting for a second; could Isaiah Thomas even play on a contender? Of course, even I could technically “play” for a contender. Just throw me in during garbage time on the ’86 Celtics and I’m sure I wouldn’t screw things up too much. What I mean is, could Thomas have played 26 minutes per game on any of the last ten championship-winning teams?

I’m sure Gregg Popovich could have made it work but for most of these teams, a key reason for their success was defense. Thomas may actively hurt a team’s defense. Much of the opposing team’s game plan would involve creating mismatches against Thomas.

Yet, it is possible to create a contender with Thomas starting. What you need in order to assemble one though is an elite defensive back court mate. The Celtics could do this if Marcus Smart can develop into the league’s best perimeter defender in the league. If Smart develops into a Tony Allen-caliber defender, he could compensate for Thomas’ lackluster defense.

Is that possible? Nobody knows how good Smart could be, but watch closely next time Thomas and Bradley share court because that could be Boston’s future back court.

Next: Celtics Situational Lineup Predictions

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