The Boston Globe is finally seeing what the Houdini has been seeing for a long time: Isaiah Thomas deserves a shot at cracking the second unit rotation for the Boston Celtics.
Welcome to the party, Boston Globe. Hardwood Houdini has been saying what you just did–about Isaiah Thomas deserving a shot at wearing green and white again for the Boston Celtics–for quite a bit.
That said, this isn’t a Drake song. We invite new friends with like-minded views, especially when it comes to kickstarting a second unit that needs a boost in a bad way as Kemba Walker recovers from knee woes that began rearing their ugly head last season before the season was suspended in March.
Yea, that was also in the calendar year 2020 believe it or not.
Anyway, Gary Washburne, a well-respected and plugged-in source, tweeted out a piece pondering the idea of an IT reunion in Beantown:
Is Isaiah Thomas @isaiahthomas the answer to the #Celtics’ scoring-challenged bench? https://t.co/MtaOBJzr7i via @BostonGlobe
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) December 27, 2020
With the usual injury caveats in mind, the idea was far from shunned. The Cs bench is scoring-challenged because Danny Ainge continues to insist on relying on rookies to play big minutes and produce. Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith had their postseason cancelled and have never played professionally. Hell, no one even has much experience playing in times of COVID-19, but relying on rookies seems particularly foolish this season.
Thomas is a legend in Boston from just two-and-a-half seasons of giving his all. It wasn’t hard for Celtics fans to cheer for the diminutive guard, especially when he transformed from a third guard in Phoenix to an MVP candidate in Boston in less than two years’ time.
Bringing him back now would be the sort of boost a fanbase unable to attend live games needs as the world continues to navigate the new normal and buy time until the Coronavirus vaccine is circulated on a grand scale.
What’s there to lose? A couple of hundred thousand dollars for a partial guarantee is the price that it should take to lure Thomas back. The Boston ownership group can’t be hurting badly enough to see that as a waste of an investment.