Boston Celtics Can Benefit From a Pass First Isaiah Thomas
By Ian Riaf
Isaiah Thomas is a known scoring threat but his secret weapon could be his passing skills.
Since the end of the Rajon Rondo era, the Boston Celtics have been without a pass first point guard. While the pass first point guard is slowly becoming outdated, as guards like Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving dominate the league, assists are still a crucial aspect of the game. Isaiah Thomas is not a pass first point guard but he has the ability to become a distributer on the offensive end, making him a two-way threat.
While the Celtics did not have a primary distributer last year, as a team they ranked sixth in assists. Their leading assist man was Thomas. Known particularly as a prolific scorer, Thomas does not get enough credit for his passing skills. With a talent boost to an offensively weak roster, Thomas could see his role change from a shoot first, ball dominate scorer, to more of a distributer. This could prove to be an added benefit for the Celtics as they look to make a deep playoff run.
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Last year, after averaging just over 22 points per game, Thomas ranked 11th in scoring and 14th in assists. While not known for his passing skills Thomas is actually an amazing distributor, accounting for almost 26 percent of the Celtics total assists last season. When Thomas puts his mind to sharing the wealth, it helps the Celtics. During Celtics victories, Thomas averaged around 6.6 assists per game, compared to his overall average of 6.2 assists per game. The Celtics have a winning record when he notches 10 or more assists per game. It’s important to note that Thomas did all of this while being part of the third worst three-point shooting team last year. Imagine his assist numbers had the Celtics been an average three-point shooting team.
It’s crucial to point out that Thomas’s effectiveness as a distributor should not take a backseat to his aggressiveness as a scorer. For the Celtics to be successful, Thomas will still need to be the primary scoring threat. Thomas has been the only Celtic to average over 22 points per game since the 2006 season when Paul Pierce was the lone scoring threat on a struggling team. Thomas at 5’9” is also the shortest NBA player to average over 20 points since Calvin Murphy (5’9”) in the mid 1970’s.
Taking all this into account, Thomas does not have to do it all this year. Last year, it seemed as if he carried the team on his shoulders. He took 18 percent of the Celtics shots. Thomas ranked 13th in the league in usage percentage, in front of players like Anthony Davis and Irving. Usage percentage indicates how many possessions a player is involved with on offense. Last year, Thomas was involved with just under 30 percent of all offensive possessions for the Celtics.
This year, look for Thomas to take more of a distributer role as the Celtics have added more depth to their roster and are a much more offensively talented unit. Not only did they acquire an All Star talent in Al Horford, they drafted the athletic rookie slasher in Jaylen Brown and signed sharpshooter Gerald Green. These three alone will add a lot of offensive fire power both in the paint and beyond the arch. The Celtics will also be a better three-point shooting team as they parted ways with two sub-par three-point shooters in Evan Turner and Jared Sullinger.
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Thomas can be both a scoring threat as well as a distributer. With a major offensive upgrade to the Celtics this year, Thomas has the opportunity to join a select group of players, including the likes of Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Chris Paul, all of whom averaged 20 points and 10 assists per game in a given season. This would be an amazing achievement for Thomas and would benefit the Celtics greatly.