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Isaiah Thomas: Butt Nugget

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Should we trade Isaiah Thomas at the trade deadline?


  • Total voters
    167
  • Poll closed .
What is BS? That I said Thomas would flop here? I did; I've been highly skeptical of his game for quite some time, as was much of the Boston media while he was a Celtic. I actually watched the Celtics, my man.. I realized he was a system player bolstered by Brad Stevens.

Stevens used Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Terry Rozier all in various combinations and lineups to form a fairly good defensive system designed to compensate for as well as to somewhat hide Thomas' defensive flaws. Combined with Jae Crowder, Boston had a very competent defensive system that could withstand the massive defensive liability created by having Isaiah Thomas on the floor. Moreover, Smart, Horford and Rozier were all were two-way facilitators, and Bradley was a competent ball-handler able to create his own shot. In addition, these players were generating ~15.3 APG over considerable minutes; which brings up yet another point: Thomas played only half of his minutes (51%) at the actual point guard position, or carrying point guard duties. For 49% of his possessions, Thomas had either Smart or Rozier running the point with him slotted in at the off-guard and for the bulk of his minutes at the point, Al Horford was on the floor with him creating for others.

Again, Thomas thrived in Stevens' system, and what we're seeing now is a player that Boston effectively designed it's entire offense and defense around, having been removed from that, and placed into the role of a traditional point guard on teams like the Cavs (when LeBron isn't handling the ball) or the Lakers... These are teams not specifically designed to cater to Thomas' strengths while covering for his weaknesses -- and we should have known that prior to the trade, because we lacked the personnel to make such a transition in the first place. Bringing over Jae Crowder, without Smart, without Horford, without Rozier, and frankly, without Brad Stevens, doesn't work.

The Celtics knew what Thomas brought to the table; and that was efficient enough scoring. Almost everything else was a negative, from his personality, to his lack of defense, and his not being an exceptionally gifted floor general or point guard. Thomas' lack of size coupled with his inability to defend any position in the NBA, means that you are absolutely forced to use him as a one-dimensional scorer and part-time facilitator. When he's hitting his three point shot, and drawing fouls, his offensive ability can, at times, compensate for everything else -- especially when your defense is otherwise clicking and you're not worried about the opposing guards attacking Thomas. But when any of those things aren't going as planned, Thomas becomes a liability.

All of this being said leads us to the actual reality of the situation: the Celtics traded Thomas, and Crowder (who was a great fit there, and cheap) and their coveted Brooklyn pick, for Kyrie Irving coming up on free agency after next season. So unless you believe Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens (who surely had some input here) are just insane; then they clearly valued Kyrie Irving, who is frankly a similar player to Thomas, far more highly. Which means they themselves saw through the veneer of padded stats and free throws that wouldn't come in crunch-time in the playoffs; and they knew they had a team already built to compensate for a poor defender at the point. For the Celtics, getting Irving was a coup; as they got out from under Thomas' impending free agency while securing what, for the most part, is a player that at present, represents Thomas' realistic ceiling - while not having entered his prime.

And we haven't even begun to discuss Thomas' injuries... From knocking his teeth out, to breaking his hip; there is some argument that he's just not durable enough, perhaps due to his size, to play in the NBA -- and FWIW, 99% of people aren't.

So for the Celtics, Kyrie would likely be a perfect fit, as he was less injured than Thomas, and an overall better player in almost every respect over the course of their careers; and that's why they made the trade. For us, Thomas was not remotely a good fit; and I think everyone in the league now realizes that except Isaiah Thomas and his small collection of fans.

* mic drop *
 
No one is backing up the brinks truck for IT. His only role can be a scoring punch of the bench, unless you want to scheme the entire team around him. Celtics did that out of necessity, that was not an ideal situation. Quite frankly, he is a one dimensional player, and a massive liability on defense.
 
View: https://twitter.com/LakersReporter/status/978387017590558720


Thankfully we traded him. Im betting he gets surgery soon.

Dude should sue the Celtics.

They knew he should not have played, lied to him and that may have effectively ended his career.

They may also have knowingly misled the Cavs, though the Cavs had their own exam, by not disclosing the whole truth they were dealing maliciously.

Boston should be made to pay IT $50 million and the Cavs should receive the Celtic's highest draft pick, whichever one that may be.
 
Dude should sue the Celtics.

They knew he should not have played, lied to him and that may have effectively ended his career.

They may also have knowingly misled the Cavs, though the Cavs had their own exam, by not disclosing the whole truth they were dealing maliciously.

Boston should be made to pay IT $50 million and the Cavs should receive the Celtic's highest draft pick, whichever one that may be.

Both teams done lied on doctor records

Papers were shredded
 
There were signs that Kyries knees were problematic all along weren't there? It's still too soon to say how we made out trade wise. We ultimately got the new squad guys who give us better balance, they'll get better too but will they be durable, time will tell.
The pick still to be determined how it goes, we may do better at five than say two. Got to get it right wherever we land.
We need to keep LBJ. That's the big thing really. With him all things are possible.

agreed on all of the above in terms of our skill as a team, but a big frustrating thing about the Kyrie trade is we gave a great clutch player to our biggest rival in the EC. If Kyrie and Hayward are healthy next year and with another year of development from Tatum, Brown, and Rozier, plus another high draft pick...

Before the trade I was always smug and happy about Boston because I knew they had the midget and we had Kyrie, no way the midget was beating Kyrie. Now that has been taken from me.
 
The dude is a straight idiot, he should’ve had surgery right after his injury instead he decided to do nothing because he was afraid that having surgery was going to effect his money, the irony is that his decision probably quadrupled the amount of money he lost.
 
Ainge may still get his… I don’t think KIs knee is going to be right going forward.
 
I feel really bad for the guy.

I mean, true, one can argue that he handled his injury situation in a short-sighted fashion, that potentially backfired. Having said that, these injuries can significantly shorten his career. And I suspect teams will now only be offering him short term contracts, if any.
It’s as if life keeps serving him the short end of the stick.

tl;dr: to cut a long story short: good luck IT.
 
I want to feel bad for the guy but I get the feeling he’s a bit selfish. I understand he went through some major tragedy but prior to that I couldn’t stand him and I’m not entirely certain him playing immediately afterwards wasn’t just him being selfserving with motives?

Brinks truck talk, talked a ton of trash on the floor, forced teams to cater an offense to him, locker room drama etc... Not a fan at all...
 

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