Ainge first to call FA Isaiah Thomas in the offseason

[obnoxiousmime]

http://greenstreet.weei.com/sports/boston/basketball/celtics/2014/11/17/isaiah-thomas-danny-ainge-was-the-first-person-to-call-me/

Obviously things didn't work out but interesting nonetheless since I thought the Celts should pursue Thomas last summer. He ended up signing for a very reasonable deal considering his scoring prowess. At only 28 million/4 yrs who cares if he's undersized and can't defend?

[Eddie20]

This part of the article was interesting...

As for the Celtics‘ way, it’s unclear why Ainge had so much interest in Thomas. They were five days removed from drafting point guard Marcus Smart. Presumably, the C’s had a deal in place to re-sign Avery Bradley, since news of his four-year, $32 million deal broke on July 2. Thomas would have been a massive upgrade over Phil Pressey, but the logjam in the Celtics backcourt currently limited their own diminutive point guard to a total of three minutes with a healthy Smart in the lineup for the first four games. All of which brings us to Rajon Rondo.
 
The Celtics captain is entering the final year of his contract, and Thomas had been rumored to be part of a package the Kings offered in exchange for Rondo this past February. It’s a bit presumptuous to assume Ainge was calling Thomas about a sign-and-trade deal that would have shipped Rondo to Sacramento, but it’s not out of the question the phone call to Thomas at the moment free agency opened was insurance for Rondo’s potentially imminent departure.
 
After all, it’s hard to imagine the Celtics would enter this season with Rondo, Bradley, Smart and Thomas all in the fold. Likewise, it doesn’t make much sense for Ainge to place his first call of free agency to Thomas unless he was serious about signing the 25-year-old, especially when the C’s had so many other needs on their roster other than point guard.
 
So, while nothing ever amounted from the C’s interest in Thomas, the fact they called in the first place is fascinating.

[obnoxiousmime]

This part of the article was interesting...

As for the Celtics‘ way, it’s unclear why Ainge had so much interest in Thomas. They were five days removed from drafting point guard Marcus Smart. Presumably, the C’s had a deal in place to re-sign Avery Bradley, since news of his four-year, $32 million deal broke on July 2. Thomas would have been a massive upgrade over Phil Pressey, but the logjam in the Celtics backcourt currently limited their own diminutive point guard to a total of three minutes with a healthy Smart in the lineup for the first four games. All of which brings us to Rajon Rondo.
 
The Celtics captain is entering the final year of his contract, and Thomas had been rumored to be part of a package the Kings offered in exchange for Rondo this past February. It’s a bit presumptuous to assume Ainge was calling Thomas about a sign-and-trade deal that would have shipped Rondo to Sacramento, but it’s not out of the question the phone call to Thomas at the moment free agency opened was insurance for Rondo’s potentially imminent departure.
 
After all, it’s hard to imagine the Celtics would enter this season with Rondo, Bradley, Smart and Thomas all in the fold. Likewise, it doesn’t make much sense for Ainge to place his first call of free agency to Thomas unless he was serious about signing the 25-year-old, especially when the C’s had so many other needs on their roster other than point guard.
 
So, while nothing ever amounted from the C’s interest in Thomas, the fact they called in the first place is fascinating.

Yeah it definitely would have been a huge logjam and you have to wonder if a Rondo move may have been in the thinking there. Since he was a FA, Thomas had the right to choose where he wanted to go, and he could have told the Celts (through his rep) that he liked Phoenix the best which would obviously kill any potential sign and trade. If he thought Boston was better then Ainge could have initiated the deal. From Sac's perspective, they were already going to lose Thomas anyway so the price they would pay in a trade package for a possible one-year rental of Rondo would have been lessened and perhaps worth the risk.

Was the mid-level an option? If so, isn't it 6.5 million right now? It could have been as simple as, Boston could only offer 6.5 and Phoenix being under the cap could offer 7. Of course, Phoenix is a better team right now and has warm weather, that was probably reason enough.

[Who]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

[D.o.s.]

This shouldn't be terribly surprising -- IT2 is exactly the kind of guard that Ainge loves.

[BballTim]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

  Seriously.

[Chris22]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

We already have one, but he doesn't start.

[kozlodoev]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

Like who, for example? Which center that changed teams in free agency this summer should he have called?

[D.o.s.]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

We already have one, but he doesn't start.

Who?

[Fafnir]

I wish Ainge would show this much interest in getting a capable starting quality center.

Yup.

Though I wonder if the avoidance of the tax priced them out of that FA pool.