Celtics Must Steer Clear Of Isaiah Thomas Trade Offers
By Liam O'Brien
Following Boston’s Game 3 victory over the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, many deemed All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas expendable. General manager Danny Ainge must resist any urge to trade Thomas before next season.
It is no secret that Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has attempted to shop point guard Isaiah Thomas in the past. Prior to the 2016 NBA Draft, Thomas’ name was brought up in numerous trade talks as Ainge aggressively tried to land another lottery pick in Boston. This summer, Ainge will continue to spread the word to opposing general managers about Thomas’ availability, as the Celtics will ponder the market value for the NBA’s third-leading scorer before his contract expires at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season.
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It appears as though the rhetoric surrounding Thomas over the past few weeks has been purely negative. When the Celtics were dominated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, fans questioned Thomas’ ability to lead a squad to a victory against the big boys and whether or not he could even pose a challenge to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. When Thomas went down with a season-ending hip injury in the first half of Game 2, many criticized his toughness, accusing him of bowing out amidst a lopsided margin as Cleveland piled on against a visibly listless Boston team.
This was not even the apex of the ridicule that surrounded Thomas future with the Celtics. In Game 3, Boston battled back from an 18-point halftime deficit to knock off the Cavaliers in a thrilling upset at Quicken Loans Arena. Marcus Smart emerged for a career performance from deep, hitting 7-of-10 from three-point range while Kelly Olynyk bursted for 15 points and even Jonas Jerebko popped off the bench for a 4-for-4 shooting performance. Many lauded the Celtics tremendous ball movement and claimed that it could not be replicated if Thomas were in the lineup, stipulating that Boston did not need Thomas’ ball dominance to make the series with Cleveland an enticing one.
Well, in the second half of Game 4 and the massacre that was Game 5, we learned the true outcome of the absence of Thomas. Boston receiving open looks was more the result of Cleveland’s porous defense rather than exceptional ball movement. When push came to shove, the Celtics had nobody who could consistently create their own shot and put an end to the plethora of Cavaliers surges that pelted Boston in Game 5.
Al Horford was irrelevant to the game’s outcome, shooting just eight times en route to as many points. Who was in charge of finding Horford in lucrative scoring positions both inside and on the perimeter? Thomas. Jae Crowder had nobody to create shots for him, as he attempted just one three-pointer in a 3-for-8, -17 performance on the plus-minus scale. A 54.6 percent effective field goal shooter would have helped. Someone who posted 30.8 points per 36 minutes in the regular season would have helped.
Critics of Thomas could have staked the claim that he wore down over the course of the postseason, and they would be correct. Thomas’ usage rate in the regular season was 34 percent, the fifth-highest marker. Thomas was the only player in the top five in usage percentage who managed to lead his team to the conference finals, making it understandable why he would be fatigued heading into his 90th and 91st games of the season.
This is why the Celtics need another All-Star caliber performer who can support Thomas’ scoring efforts and take some of the pressure off of him. Acquiring another star does not come without Thomas’ presence. Should Ainge decide to dangle Thomas as trade bait and ship him off for future picks, the selling points that the Celtics have in attracting Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin in free agency are essentially diminished to none. Players around the league have expressed desire to play with someone such as Thomas, whose assist percentage of 32.3 percent was 17th in the NBA.
It’s not only current NBA stars that would love to play alongside Thomas, it’s those of the future as well. Washington Huskies standout and potential No. 1 overall selection Markelle Fultz has expressed his willingness to play next to the former Husky on the Parquet backcourt, and the tandem could be a headache for opposing defenses to cope with.
The Celtics could play Thomas off of the ball with Fultz playing the point, similar to how they paired Thomas with Smart at times during the season. The only difference is that Fultz must be respected as a shooting threat and can create effortlessly, which could open up more driving lanes for Thomas while leading to him receiving the occasional wide open three-point attempt.
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In addition, it is a misnomer to think that Thomas’ trade value is sky-high at the moment. Chris Broussard of Fox Sports asserted last month that Thomas’ trade value will never be higher. He failed to take into consideration that Thomas’ hip injury and the recovery process which lies ahead of him is a considerable sticking point with teams who might be interested in trading for him. This combined with the notion that he would be a one-year rental for other franchises decreases his trade value for teams who would consider trading future draft stock or an All-Star caliber player for him.