Haberstroh says Boston was a deadline loser

[Roy H.]

But what do I know, I guess it's just all about accumulating $Texas draft picks.

Is that a Celebrity Jeopardy reference?

[KeepRondo]

I don't think he does at all.  Teams need three quality rotation guards.  Smart didn't start playing point until college, and he still has a lot of development left in that part of his game.  I saw some pundits calling Smart undersized at the 2, but he's capably guarded small forwards this year, so I don't give that much stock.

The analyses done by Celticsblog and others leading into the trade deadline indicated how some of the Celtics biggest weaknesses are Thomas' strengths.  Smart ahousk still get his 30 minutes per game most nights -- no development will be stunted.

From a medium-term point-of-view, winning this year is okay.  The Celtics are clearly too good to finish in the bottom 5 barring trades that ripped apart the team, and there was little point in that.  If they win a few more games, so what? And if they make the playoffs because they've continued to play better, fine.  The goal is to win eventually.  What's wrong with now?

From a longer-term perspective, the Celtics now have their main backcourt rotstion locked up through June of 2018 for between $18-$19 million per season.  That means they can spend other resources (draft picks and cap space) improving their frontcourt, unless and until an even better backcourt upgrade comes along.  It takes up a little more than 1/4 of this year's cap, and close to 1/5 of the following year's cap, to cover 3 of their top 9 rotation pieces.  From a team-building perspective, this is very good.

I frnakly think this writer was being contrarian for the sake of clicks.  The Thomas move made between a good deal of sense and a huge amount of sense.  The only thing I'll concede is that his reputation in the locker room isn't perfect.  That is a definite risk.  Still, Bradley played with him on the same youth team, so hopefully that decade-long relationship makes IT feel more at ease.

And lets add that we have other teams that can land us future lottery picks such as the Nets. We have plenty of possibilities going forward. It's not like we will be doomed if we don't land a lottery pick this year.

[Waew]

Does he realize there's 15 roster spots on NBA teams, so having more than 1 player at a position will happen

[Csfan1984]

Its all about fit and role. I think the C's like what Thornton brought with his role on the team (Shooting, decent passing, occasional drive, experience, and quick hands). Thornton was however older than a player should be to last through a rebuild as a key guy and a bigger issue was he was expiring. Don't think Thornton would resign here unless C's overpaid. IT does all the same things but is younger, cheaper and signed 3 more years.

[gift]

I feel like people aren't taking IT's age and contract into account. He's still an asset, still has some upside and isn't crippling the team financially. Dragic would have been a worse move for this team.

IT's stock is actually lower now than it was even at the beginning of the year. Ainge may be looking at him as a guy he can flip for even more value later on. If not, he's an upgrade in talent on the roster going forward.

Anyone think IT is going to propel the C's into annual mediocrity completely on his own? He's not that good. If, that's if, the team wants to tank they still can. But they now also have an added established talent in case they have an opportunity to bring in more at other positions.

At the cost, I can't see this as a bad move. Worst case is it doesn't really move the needle in either direction in regard to the Celtics future.

[cman88]

the guy averaged 20ppg and 6apg just a season ago...thats nothing to snuff at as a player. and he's young. If he thrives on the celtics, getting a 20ppg 6apg player on a 7million$ contract is a steal.

Maybe Marcus Smart is more of a shooting guard than a point-guard, we dont know. But I have no problem with the celtics picking up a Young asset for what essentially will be a Late 1st round pick who will likely be out of the league like jajuan johnson or fab melo

we KNOW what Isaiah thomas is.

[Mr October]

Sounds like the critics hvent been paying much attention to what Boston is really doing.

Right now Marcus Smart isnt a point guard. He probably will never become a pure point guard. He is a combo guard with great size and strength for his position. If anything I think he will play better as a 2 alongside Thomas, instead of as a 1 alongside Bradley.

And as others have said, building through the draft doesn't mean you only build through the draft. In 2016, the Celtics had something like 8 draft picks. They can't add 8 rookies to the team.

Ainge is playing the odds. Thomas is most likely going to be better then whoever is picked at #25 next year with that Cavs pick. He is simply flipping assets, looking to build the talent of the team.

And now they finally have someone who can create a shot, instead of only relying on Evan Turner.

[saltlover]

I feel like people aren't taking IT's age and contract into account. He's still an asset, still has some upside and isn't crippling the team financially. Dragic would have been a worse move for this team.

IT's stock is actually lower now than it was even at the beginning of the year. Ainge may be looking at him as a guy he can flip for even more value later on. If not, he's an upgrade in talent on the roster going forward.

Anyone think IT is going to propel the C's into annual mediocrity completely on his own? He's not that good. If, that's if, the team wants to tank they still can. But they now also have an added established talent in case they have an opportunity to bring in more at other positions.

At the cost, I can't see this as a bad move. Worst case is it doesn't really move the needle in either direction in regard to the Celtics future.

I don't think he's day-trading with IT.  He felt the price was right, and so he made the move to upgrade the backcourt.  Thomas has a very cap-friendly contract, and so won't be an albatross to move in the future, but clearly plan A right now is to make the current backcourt work, no more, no less.  If it does, the team is set up to have more resources to improve the frontcourt.

[Celtics4ever]

Extremely short sighted on his part.   That pick might be a 27-30.  We got something off nothing really and send a guy to his basketball home.   Everyone won, a hard thing to do.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I get the he hasn't gotten along part, but that's due to the fact that those guys who "he hasn't gotten along" has this mentality that they are THE guys.

There's no one like that in Boston. In any case, we can probably call him THE guy, as he could be the dude who would score and try to take over when needed.

Regardless of the personal issues, a good player who can score 20 PPG on solid efficiency on a very reasonable contract for practically a late 1st and a player who's not part of the future is a win. Those positives outweigh the negatives to me. At worst, we can still easily move Thomas and get a much better return that what we gave up. At best, he can be a very solid 6th man. 

I disagree with Tom Haberstroh, but then again, I'm not an NBA writer...

[Irish Stew]

Does Hobostrobe have any understanding of concepts like trading for value and asset accumulation during a team's rebuilding phase?

[kozlodoev]

I don't think he's day-trading with IT.  He felt the price was right, and so he made the move to upgrade the backcourt.  Thomas has a very cap-friendly contract, and so won't be an albatross to move in the future, but clearly plan A right now is to make the current backcourt work, no more, no less.  If it does, the team is set up to have more resources to improve the frontcourt.

Moreever, Thomas is a player who's shown he can be efficient both starting and off the bench.

[Nerf DPOY]

Besides not seeming to have a grasp on Smart's game, it's like this guy is saying that Boston is in the position where the only two sound moves are to trade for a star or collect more picks to eventually land a star. Any other move for a non-all star level player is a waste of an asset. Maybe I'm oversimplifying his take, or maybe I'm right about his oversimplifying team building.

[PhoSita]

I think that when you have the chance to land a young, good player on a cheap contract for a late first rounder, you do it.

100% agreed.

Just want to add that I think Thomas and Smart actually can fit together fairly well, given Smart's considerable progress as a spot up shooter from three.  Indeed, Smart is clearly a good distance away from being a dangerous pick and roll penetrator, so it was important for the team to add one who can fill that role for now, and perhaps show Smart a thing or two.

If anything, my question regarding fit concerns Bradley.  I don't like starting him next to Thomas, and I think the backcourt is too lacking in penetration when he and Smart are out there together, unless a ball-handling wing like Turner is on the floor, too.

[mctyson]

His take which does have some merit:

Losers


Boston Celtics
Talking around the league, the biggest question mark from trade deadline day belongs to the C's. It seemed as though Marcus Smart was destined to be the point guard of the future for the Celtics, but now they've muddled that with Isaiah Thomas, who doesn't seem to have gotten along with anybody in his short time in the league. And now you put him with Smart?

On the surface, Thomas looks like a solid player, but he doesn't fit with Boston's plans right now. By adding Thomas for a likely late first-round pick in 2016, it looks as though they're trying to get stuck in the wheel of mediocrity when they should be trying to accumulate more long-term assets.

What do all you think of this? I think he raises some worthwhile questions.

I just don't get how writers think they know what 'Boston's plans right now' are better than Danny Ainge does.

It's lazy.  Just assume the Celtics want to stink so they can get a chance at a higher draft pick.  No actual analysis as to why (a) this player is probably better than what they would get at that draft pick and (b) why the ownership and management want to win as soon as possible.

Thomas makes the team better.  Period.  That simple.