New Ringer article on Loyalty and IT trade

[D Dub]

I think Danny sees a difference between players he trades for vs. players he recruits/signs.

This is why, if any other blockbuster deal goes down (Davis) I see Kyrie being moved, not Gordon or Al. 

It’s harder to work with agents when you burn someone you recruited & signed.

Traded players are kinda easy come easy go.

[iadera]

I think Danny sees a difference between players he trades for vs. players he recruits/signs.

This is why, if any other blockbuster deal goes down (Davis) I see Kyrie being moved, not Gordon or Al. 

It’s harder to work with agents when you burn someone you recruited & signed.

Traded players are kinda easy come easy go.

Wrong. Depends which player. If you bring Bogans via trade, of course it can be ''easy go'', but if you bring Kyrie, there's no word ''easy'' in vocabulary.

[slightly biased bias fan]

No players will think ill of Ainge over this

It depends on the player. Danny’s trade of IT has sort of become the players’ example of “the teams have no loyalty, so I’m going to act in my own interest”.  Durant mentioned it, Ray Allen and Kenny Smith said it, Anthony Davis recently brought it up.

I don't see it that way. Ainge never drafted Thomas, Ainge actually gave him the opportunity to start when no other GM would, Thomas was only in Boston for 2 years, Thomas was an expiring contract and there was actually a chance IT could have just walked if the money wasn't right and Ainge actually traded him to a contender not some cellar dweller. I'd say the only reason for this narrative of Thomas being betrayed is because of him playing when his sister died but no one in the organisation would have pushed him to do that.

[Greyman]

The article doesn't add anything new to the discussion. It tries to make a straight business deal into an emotional issue due to the back story on the IT trade. DA typically made a calculated decision once Kyrie became available. A decision to improve the Celtics.

The idea of loyalty in sport, and the NBA in particular, went missing a long time ago. It probably declined in an inverse ratio to the amount of money involved. No stories about loyalty came out about the AB move to Detroit. As much as IT did in his two years, AB was at least equally deserving of loyalty.

The way the wage structure is in the NBA and the cap make loyalty a difficult thing to show. AB deserved his pay day, DA (a long time supporter of AB) decided he couldn't afford AB and improve the team in the ways he needed. In the present NBA you need a number of players at a level AB isn't quite at. While the Celtics are top of the East we all accept that they will struggle to beat a number of teams they will meet on the way to a championship. DA had to improve the team and may still do dependent on what happens with Hayward (and other things).

I don't see much difference between what DA did with AB and IT, just that they developed differently. A player with the Celtics history of Pierce understood his move to the Nets was a business decision (a very good one as it has turned out). Anyone in DA's position who lets sentimentality get in the way of a decision that gains you a player like Kyrie and gets you closer to being a contender should quit.

The IT trade doesn't show loyalty but lets not pretend it is a new low or any different to lots of other moves just because IT was upset.

[SparzWizard]

http://www.weei.com/blogs/alex-reimer/isaiah-thomas-accuses-celtics-misleading-him-about-hip-injury

IT4 regrets playing for the Celtics in the postseason.

Lol, you're getting paid to play so shut up. Second of all, quit demanding the money when you can't even play defense. Isaiah Thomas is so full of it lol. Can't wait to see Kyrie light one up on him when he comes back.

[konkmv]

IT  talked too much about himself playing for a team who does not appreciate big egos.. he is not at Larry's Paul's Kevin's level to talk so much.... the team is above any individual... irving hayward duo has more chances to achieve something...

[GreenFaith1819]

All I know is that we'd better be ready when we play the Cavs again.



Guess who the Shark will be and we may have to paint the blood Green.

[Celtics4ever]

IT4 regrets playing for the Celtics in the postseason.

I call BS on IT.   I think the team wanted him to get a surgery but he didn't.   We shut him down and he was the guy who wanted to play:

“Isaiah has worked tirelessly to manage this injury since it first occurred,” said Celtics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian McKeon. “The swelling increased during the first two games against Cleveland, and in order to avoid more significant long-term damage to his hip, we could no longer allow him to continue.”

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/20/boston-celtics-isaiah-thomas-out-remainder-playoffs-hip-injury#/

“He’s had a nagging hip injury,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “He aggravated it pretty significantly on Friday in Washington Game 6, went through a bunch of different testing on Saturday and Sunday, was able to play (in Game 7 on) Monday, hasn’t felt great either of the two days.”

While Cleveland’s defense has done a great job of limiting Thomas’ impact in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Stevens saw something different in Thomas’ play in the first half that signaled potential struggles that went beyond what the Cavaliers were doing defensively.

And Stevens didn’t like it.

“When we went back to the locker room, our training staff and doctors got with him,” Stevens said. “He was pretty despondent not to be able to play. I mean, that guy is a tough guy, and he plays through a lot. For him to have to sit is really hard.”

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/boston-celtics/isaiah-thomas-sidelined-game-2-nagging-hip-injury

NOTE the he wanted to play and these are articles last May 2017.  I feel bad for him, he gave his all to the city.  But the narrative in the above articles is a lot different than what he is presenting now.

[mctyson]

IT4 regrets playing for the Celtics in the postseason.

I call BS on IT.   I think the team wanted him to get a surgery but he didn't.   We shut him down and he was the guy who wanted to play:

“Isaiah has worked tirelessly to manage this injury since it first occurred,” said Celtics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian McKeon. “The swelling increased during the first two games against Cleveland, and in order to avoid more significant long-term damage to his hip, we could no longer allow him to continue.”

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/20/boston-celtics-isaiah-thomas-out-remainder-playoffs-hip-injury#/

“He’s had a nagging hip injury,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “He aggravated it pretty significantly on Friday in Washington Game 6, went through a bunch of different testing on Saturday and Sunday, was able to play (in Game 7 on) Monday, hasn’t felt great either of the two days.”

While Cleveland’s defense has done a great job of limiting Thomas’ impact in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Stevens saw something different in Thomas’ play in the first half that signaled potential struggles that went beyond what the Cavaliers were doing defensively.

And Stevens didn’t like it.

“When we went back to the locker room, our training staff and doctors got with him,” Stevens said. “He was pretty despondent not to be able to play. I mean, that guy is a tough guy, and he plays through a lot. For him to have to sit is really hard.”

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/boston-celtics/isaiah-thomas-sidelined-game-2-nagging-hip-injury

NOTE the he wanted to play and these are articles last May 2017.  I feel bad for him, he gave his all to the city.  But the narrative in the above articles is a lot different than what he is presenting now.

This just sounds like IT blaming the hip injury for being traded.  He is basically saying if we would be healthy for this year then they would not have traded him.  Not true at all.

[Rosco917]

IT was spending the Max money before he got the contract, that's the problem. He showed his hand by continually mentioning it.

Mr. IT thought he finally found his home, the place where he would strike gold and be totally excepted.
IT tried to snooker the Celtic organization into giving him a Max contract all while he hid the severity of that hip injury.

If you think you've heard the last of that hip injury, think again. He'll have some success, because the guy is offensively very talented, but as he plays game after game after game it will rear it's head once again. 

[nickagneta]

IT4 regrets playing for the Celtics in the postseason.

I call BS on IT.   I think the team wanted him to get a surgery but he didn't.   We shut him down and he was the guy who wanted to play:

“Isaiah has worked tirelessly to manage this injury since it first occurred,” said Celtics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian McKeon. “The swelling increased during the first two games against Cleveland, and in order to avoid more significant long-term damage to his hip, we could no longer allow him to continue.”

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/20/boston-celtics-isaiah-thomas-out-remainder-playoffs-hip-injury#/

“He’s had a nagging hip injury,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “He aggravated it pretty significantly on Friday in Washington Game 6, went through a bunch of different testing on Saturday and Sunday, was able to play (in Game 7 on) Monday, hasn’t felt great either of the two days.”

While Cleveland’s defense has done a great job of limiting Thomas’ impact in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Stevens saw something different in Thomas’ play in the first half that signaled potential struggles that went beyond what the Cavaliers were doing defensively.

And Stevens didn’t like it.

“When we went back to the locker room, our training staff and doctors got with him,” Stevens said. “He was pretty despondent not to be able to play. I mean, that guy is a tough guy, and he plays through a lot. For him to have to sit is really hard.”

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/boston-celtics/isaiah-thomas-sidelined-game-2-nagging-hip-injury

NOTE the he wanted to play and these are articles last May 2017.  I feel bad for him, he gave his all to the city.  But the narrative in the above articles is a lot different than what he is presenting now.

Just because he wanted to play at the time and play through injury and grief doesn't mean that looking back he doesn't regret it. Isn't that the whole point of regret? Wishing you didn't do something that you have already done, regardless of why you did it.

[Moranis]

IT4 regrets playing for the Celtics in the postseason.

I call BS on IT.   I think the team wanted him to get a surgery but he didn't.   We shut him down and he was the guy who wanted to play:

“Isaiah has worked tirelessly to manage this injury since it first occurred,” said Celtics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian McKeon. “The swelling increased during the first two games against Cleveland, and in order to avoid more significant long-term damage to his hip, we could no longer allow him to continue.”

http://www.nba.com/article/2017/05/20/boston-celtics-isaiah-thomas-out-remainder-playoffs-hip-injury#/

“He’s had a nagging hip injury,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “He aggravated it pretty significantly on Friday in Washington Game 6, went through a bunch of different testing on Saturday and Sunday, was able to play (in Game 7 on) Monday, hasn’t felt great either of the two days.”

While Cleveland’s defense has done a great job of limiting Thomas’ impact in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Stevens saw something different in Thomas’ play in the first half that signaled potential struggles that went beyond what the Cavaliers were doing defensively.

And Stevens didn’t like it.

“When we went back to the locker room, our training staff and doctors got with him,” Stevens said. “He was pretty despondent not to be able to play. I mean, that guy is a tough guy, and he plays through a lot. For him to have to sit is really hard.”

http://www.nbcsports.com/boston/boston-celtics/isaiah-thomas-sidelined-game-2-nagging-hip-injury

NOTE the he wanted to play and these are articles last May 2017.  I feel bad for him, he gave his all to the city.  But the narrative in the above articles is a lot different than what he is presenting now.

Just because he wanted to play at the time and play through injury and grief doesn't mean that looking back he doesn't regret it. Isn't that the whole point of regret? Wishing you didn't do something that you have already done, regardless of why you did it.

exactly.  Cris Carter was on his show this morning (First Things First) and said he regretted playing through his shoulder injury and wouldn't have done it if he knew then what he knows now.  The whole purpose of things like the concussion protocol is to protect the players from themselves, because in the heat of the moment the player is 99.9% of the time going to play, whether they should or not.