Ainge: Isaiah Thomas Best-Suited For Bench Role

[greece66]

//“I thought Brad did a magnificent job of utilizing Thomas at the most needed times of the game,” Ainge said. “At the most needed times of the game, the ball was in his hands. Maximizing his production is the most important. So, starting and playing 37 to 38 minutes, if the production is not going to be that much greater, then it doesn’t make any sense. We feel like we’re sort of maximizing his minutes and production at the high 20s to low 30s types of minutes as opposed to playing him more minutes and not getting the extra production.”//

Source http://nesn.com/2015/04/danny-ainge-isaiah-thomas-best-suited-for-bench-role-with-celtics

[celticsclay]

Is thomas happy with that?

[KeepRondo]

Is thomas happy with that?

I think he probably is. But if we got better players and his touches went down on the second unit, then I think it could be a problem.

[LooseCannon]

It's not that Thomas isn't good enough to start;  it's that his skill set is better suited towards the sort of usage and minutes that should make him a SMOY candidate.

[greece66]

IMO O'Connor wrote a good piece on the subject.

//In a perfect world, if the Celtics are able to build a contender, Thomas could be that player who steps on the throat of opponents mid-way through quarters, after a lead is already built. And he'd likely be one of the finishers late in games, which is what matters most anyway. If Marcus Smart develops according to plan, and if Avery Bradley extends his shooting range to above the break, then they would have a versatile guard rotation, with all three players receiving at least 30 minutes per game.//

http://www.celticsblog.com/2015/4/30/8523183/danny-ainge-says-that-isaiah-thomas-can-be-one-of-the-greats-even-as-a-sixth-man

[crimson_stallion]

I can very easily see him becoming a Jason Terry / Jamaal Crawford / Manu Ginobilli type - all three of those guys built extremely good careers out of dominating teams as the first guy off the bench, and you could rightly argue that every one of those guys was the second best player on their team during their prime years - despite the fact that they came off the bench.

During the Celtics big-3 (or big-4, if you prefer) era I really feel that we were one great sixth man away from being utterly dominant.  If we had a guy like Terry, Crawford, Manu or Isaiah Thomas back then, I rally think we'd have won 2 or 3 championships. 

I would absolutely love it if Thomas could carve himself that type of niche with the Celtics, because a deadly sixth man like that is probably one of the most underrated roles in the league, one that can absolutely turn the tide for a team.

[Chief]

Starting or coming off the bench, I'd like him to average 35 mins a game.