Concerns regarding Thomas

[Tr1boy]

Defence isn't as bad as I thought.   Not great,  but doesn't appear to be a liability.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202738/tracking/defense/
http://www.82games.com/1415/14PHO1.HTM

due to his height he is a liability 50 percent of the time on the defensive end.  During PNR he will exclusively keep chasing his man bc he knows otherwise he will get killed

Like Pressey he tries harder to guard his man from getting set at half court

The best way to use Thomas will be off the bench and during situations you need offense created out of thing air

But we need Thomas to not complain about not starting or not getting enough mins etc.   Just be a good sport and help the team when his number is called. I mean he has 3 more years to go on his contract so he can relax a little.  I guess he is the anti Mark Blount and even after a long term contract he still wants to start, be the man etc.   It's a good thing, it can be a bad thing.  We will have to see what happens.

[SHAQATTACK]

IT

Is basically a fancier version on Pressey that can actually shoot the ball .

Question ....does this not like axe Pressey .......Pressey loses his role as water bug energy guy .

IT brings energy and motion to the offense no doubt .

[Rosco917]

My concerns are what kind of a point guard is he?, and can he defend at all?

We know he's a scorer and a spark.

Hopefully he will be a good Celtic.

He tries on defense. He is a good rebounder, i mean very good for his miniature size. The issue is there is so much he can do against bigger pgs or in the PNR.

That is why it's great that one of AB or Smart can help makeup for IT defensive limitations

Danny and CBS I don't think are concerned if IT can do the job on the defensive end.  The team needs him to score , replace Marcus Thornton's role plus some. Like create offensive out of thin air

I'm just asking these questions to see if he is capable of being a starter. If he can play decent defense and facilitate, while still scoring as he already does, he and Smart would make a nice combo. It's nice to have both a 1 and a 2 that can pass well.
Bradley would be nice off the bench, I can see him being a spark in his own way.

[Smartacus]

Defence isn't as bad as I thought.   Not great,  but doesn't appear to be a liability.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202738/tracking/defense/
http://www.82games.com/1415/14PHO1.HTM

His defensive lapses might be a bit overstated on these boards. Isiah Thomas has an edge to him. He's gritty, strong, and athletic.

He plays bigger than he is. PGs might be able to shoot over him but Isiah will be all in their airspace. Thomas isn't Nate Robinson gambling for steals and highlight reel blocks. He's an engaged and willing on ball defender who can stay in front if his man.

[Tr1boy]

IT

Is basically a fancier version on Pressey that can actually shoot the ball .

Question ....does this not like axe Pressey .......Pressey loses his role as water bug energy guy .

IT brings energy and motion to the offense no doubt .

nope.  Pressey will get min during "break and pull when you are down by 20 pts" situations. He is also like an ultimate practice pg that will try to suffocate you , help you become a better player.    Pressey will be that 15th player for the next few seasons

[jonaslopes]

Two days ago I read some Phoenix fans calling him "a locker room cancer".

[Tr1boy]

Two days ago I read some Phoenix fans calling him "a locker room cancer".

I read that too.  I think it had to do with him complaining about not getting a shot to start. 
He also said he didn't trust the suns management.  or something along those lines.

In addition when he came in during games, to lead the 2nd unit, he took away pg duties from Dragic.

It was a mess in phoenix.   

Nobody knows the whole story relating to the firing of his agent but I think the Agent he fired gave him assurance that he will start or have a good chance to start in Phoenix.  But the Suns were mainly concerned in the offseason to try to keep Bledsoe and Dragic together.  So maybe he felt misled that the only reason the Suns wanted him was to come off the bench/insurance purposes.

Maybe if he knew the suns mindset from the beginning he would of signed with  another team , even if it meant for lesser money. Maybe he would of even signed with the Celts.

[chambers]

IT

Is basically a fancier version on Pressey that can actually shoot the ball .

Question ....does this not like axe Pressey .......Pressey loses his role as water bug energy guy .

IT brings energy and motion to the offense no doubt .

nope.  Pressey will get min during "break and pull when you are down by 20 pts" situations. He is also like an ultimate practice pg that will try to suffocate you , help you become a better player.    Pressey will be that 15th player for the next few seasons

Unless Pressey is waived...

[viking]

I don't have a major dislike for this trade. If we had lost anything of great value I would have been unhappy.

Thornton and what should be a late first for this wee pocket rocket should turn out ok, we replaced a chucker with a younger chucker

[Tr1boy]

IT

Is basically a fancier version on Pressey that can actually shoot the ball .

Question ....does this not like axe Pressey .......Pressey loses his role as water bug energy guy .

IT brings energy and motion to the offense no doubt .

nope.  Pressey will get min during "break and pull when you are down by 20 pts" situations. He is also like an ultimate practice pg that will try to suffocate you , help you become a better player.    Pressey will be that 15th player for the next few seasons

Unless Pressey is waived...

He is the 14th-15th man on the roster. Like Shav is. 13-15 guys are usually "break pull in case of emergency" , energy, good guys to have for practice

Guys like Pressey and Shav fit the description. Wallace now is also part of this group

It's not a big deal. Harmless

[MaxAMillion]

1. He was unhappy in Phoenix because he was hoping to get a chance to Start.  The media was made aware
2. He fired his agent early December.  He stated it had nothing to do with the Suns situation. It was for professional and personal reasons (whatever this means)
3. Last seasons incident with Bayless   (something relating to their past as teammates before the NBA)

Thomas seems like a moody individual.  Hopefully he is not going to complain, whine and cause issues in the locker room.   

I don't know what Danny's exact vision is with bringing in Thomas.  If he wants him to be the ultimate 6th man for the next 3 years or wants to pair him up with AB or Smart to start eventually. 

For me , I just want the guy to not complain, fight with guys in the locker room and just play his game whenever his number is called.
 

Ainge's vision is the same as it was with Jeff Green. He fixates on a player and won't stop until he gets him. The guy is a dwarf two guard who doesn't defend. Kind of like a more consistent Nate Robinson. This will probably help the team make the playoffs with a losing record which means absolutely nothing. As if players and agents are dumb enough to suddenly want to come to Boston because the team makes the playoffs as an eight seed in the east.

Thomas's ball hog attitude and mediocre defense will become obvious soon enough. He is the quintessential good scorer on a bad team type of player.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth #20]

"basically a fancier version of Pressey" wow what an insult! Pressey is not an NBA quality player and Thomas was challenging for 6 man of the year, what are horrid insult! Isiah Thomas deserves to never be in a sentence with Phil Pressey, c'mon man!

[TheBig3]

Two days ago I read some Phoenix fans calling him "a locker room cancer".

I read that too.  I think it had to do with him complaining about not getting a shot to start. 
He also said he didn't trust the suns management.  or something along those lines.

In addition when he came in during games, to lead the 2nd unit, he took away pg duties from Dragic.

It was a mess in phoenix.   

Nobody knows the whole story relating to the firing of his agent but I think the Agent he fired gave him assurance that he will start or have a good chance to start in Phoenix.  But the Suns were mainly concerned in the offseason to try to keep Bledsoe and Dragic together.  So maybe he felt misled that the only reason the Suns wanted him was to come off the bench/insurance purposes.

Maybe if he knew the suns mindset from the beginning he would of signed with  another team , even if it meant for lesser money. Maybe he would of even signed with the Celts.

That was Dragic that stated he didn't trust the suns Management not Thomas.

[jambr380]

I wouldn't want him as my starter. He is too small to play consistent defense. He isn't great at running an offense. He isn't always going to move the ball when he should.

What he is going to do is straight up score when he gets in the game. I think he won't complain about a bench role, because he is going to be able to shoot as much as he wants on this team when he is in the game.

I don't know - I think he fits well with Smart. Obviously it would be great if he could be a little more Dragic and a little less Jennings, but Smart isn't a PG like Rondo was. If they can both share the ball handling duties, it could be a pretty deadly backcourt combo. Throw in Bradley who isn't ball-dominant at all and we have a very solid guard rotation.

[SHAQATTACK]

My concern

Is will Danny ever get a center and quit screwing around with 6 ft tall guards.

You have nothing with out big men in the paint .

KO is not a center in any way ...he has zero center instinct or skills ...he plays like a guard

Danny is killing the Celtics with out any starting quality centers .....unbelievable for the Celtics to be so low on talent.