Boston Celtics: It’s time to re-sign Isaiah Thomas

Just before Saturday’s Christmas-day game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Boston Celtics suffered another blow, losing Dennis Schroder to health and safety protocols. Currently, the C’s have eight players in those protocols, with seven of them already being ruled out for Monday’s game.

This caused coach Ime Udoka to go to an eight-man rotation against Giannis and company, relying heavily on their starting lineup. This type of rotation can work for a couple of games at a time but eventually takes a toll on your starters, reducing their production over the course of a season.

Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum is averaging the third-most minutes per game in the league at 36.7, only behind Fred VanVleet and Kevin Durant. That’s not the ideal workload that the Boston Celtics want their young superstar going through, but it’s been necessary considering the ulterior options. One way to diminish this workload is to sign veteran players to hardship exemptions, as they are allowed to temporarily replace individuals placed on the Covid-19 list.

The Boston Celtics need to bring home Isaiah Thomas

They have already brought back Joe Johnson after a 20-year absence from the team, and have clearly shown their preference of acquiring veteran presences rather than young talent. Signings such as CJ Miles and Al-Farouq Aminu seemingly came out of left field, but show how the Boston Celtics’ front office is prioritizing veteran dependability over untapped potential.

Knowing this, it makes perfect sense for the C’s to finally bring back Isaiah Thomas. After the Los Angeles Lakers decided to bring him in on a 10-day contract to help boost their depth, it has been recently reported that they will decline to offer him a second deal. This means IT will go back into free agency, with any team having the opportunity to pick him up.

In terms of his fit on the Celtics, he likely wouldn’t see playing time right away. He would slot behind both Marcus Smart and Payton Pritchard as pure ball-handlers, with him being available if necessary.

In his second stint on the Lakers, he struggled to provide consistent offense. In his four games, he averaged 9.3 points on 30.8% shooting from the field and 22.7% from beyond the arc. He will obviously improve over time, but it’s tough to justify giving a player a second contract with those shooting splits.

Obviously, Thomas has proven himself to be a microwave scorer off the bench at the very least, but he hasn’t been available to find an NBA home ever since being traded away. He’s tirelessly worked his way back, trying to get healthy from nagging hip injuries that have plagued him for years, but the positive results haven’t translated to the court.

Over the past four seasons, he’s played for Denver, Washington, New Orleans, and now the Lakers. Cumulatively, he’s averaged 10.9 points and 3.1 assists on 38.7% shooting. Those numbers, along with his poor defense due to his lack of physical ability and stature, have led to his unemployment in the league.

However, when it comes to a Boston reunion, it seems like a no-brainer. If it works out, Thomas becomes a valuable scorer off the bench who’s able to be hidden on the defensive end. If it doesn’t, he has an inconsistent couple of appearances and gets released from the team with no harm done.

Either way, his return will bring lots of positive energy to the team, something they could certainly use right now.

This move seems long overdue, and now is the perfect time to do it.

Let’s bring IT back to Boston.