We Should Trade Isaiah Thomas...

[Surferdad]

Here's the problem, in a couple of years the Celts are going to have to give max money to IT. That will be max money to Horford and IT with not much left for hopefully another impact player. IT is a great scorer but he is not the type of player that can carry a team in the playoffs. I would be worried about giving him max money. Now if he goes into the playoffs this year and puts the team on his back and they win a few rounds then I'm all for giving him max money. Carrying the team in the playoffs is a little different then carrying the team in December against a bad Miami team. If he has limitations again in the playoffs because of how teams play him then I would be all for trading him before giving him max money.

Sure, but Ainge already did that a few years ago by trading away Pierce and Garnett, and then eventually Rondo.  You don't keep doing it or you will never have stars, just perpetual tank mode.

This is probably the #1 challenge for any NBA GM.  Sometimes the the best or most important player on your team isn't truly a max guy but you almost have to give them a max deal, see the Grizzlies and Conley.  If you give max money to a non-max guy, it almost always handicaps your attempt to build a title contender.  But if you trade that player or let him walk, your team takes a big step backward in the short term.

Mike

[OldSchoolDude]

I think it will be very hard to trade IT for equivalent value.   He is a bit like Noel.  At this past draft I was not interested in in trading the #3 pick in a package for him but would have gladly offered him a max deal if we could get him for less. I'm not ready to max Noel now, but the point is I would have paid max money for him, but not max assets.   I think that any non playoff team that is looking to just get to the playoffs, add some more regular season wins and excitement, would gladly max out IT, but they wouldn't trade their building blocks for him.  Other teams that are trying to contend really cant afford to max him out and also, his need to shoot a lot to be effective is counter productive to a contenting team.  He can't start on any true contender (GS, Cavs, Spurs) because his volume shooting would take away from what those teams are doing to be successful.  So, I don't think he will be traded. This season or even next season.

We don't have the fire power those teams have but we are getting there. This draft and free agency will ultimately seal his fate.  If we max out a free agent we will be severely limited in the ability to pay IT when his contract is up.  Also we may have to make a choice between paying Bradley or IT.  If we draft a top 3 PG and he looks like the real deal IT wont get paid.  If we draft a SG and he looks like the real deal we won't be able to pay Bradley.   Bradley will cost less than IT so we may be able to keep him on the home town discount which is a bit ironic because  I think Bradley is the better team player, not individual talent.  I think that Bradley could start at SG for both the Spurs and the Cavs.  I think he's better than Danny Green and J. R. Smith. 

I would look at a trade that is a loose now win latter deal for the team.  We cant win a championship this year so lets build for next year.  I really only see Horford and Bradley as legit starters on a championship team now.  I see Brown developing into one down the road. The rest of our team are just rotational players on a contender.  Our roster will change a lot with two top 5 picks coming in the next two years, all our bigs (except Horford) hitting free agency this year, money to max out at least one maybe even two players.  This team will win a championship again soon, and there is a good chance IT is not on the roster when it happens.

[CsBanner18]

IT isnt going ANYWHERE. Get over it ppl. Pay him his money

[Phantom255x]

IT isnt going ANYWHERE. Get over it ppl. Pay him his money

Yep, Ainge LOVES Isaiah (even called him first in 2014 FA while the C's were capped out).

Trading him away paints a BAD picture about this team. He's our best recruiter as well.

Trading him away for draft picks and such is such a bad move (moves the C's backward for another few years) AND no other team will give up the likes of Wall, Lilliard or Westbrook for IT. IT's contract also expires in 1.5 years so other teams may not give up a ton in the first place. I expect Ainge to pay the man.

[Rosco917]

IT isnt going ANYWHERE. Get over it ppl. Pay him his money

IT should get paid what he's worth. I agree. He's a one way player, a liability on defense, and he doesn't facilitate for his teammates, and he's getting worse in that regard. He doesn't make anyone on the floor better, except the players he's guarding.

Yes, he's a great scorer, his scoring is on par with Harden, and Westbrook etc, unfortunately nothing else is. If asked to turn up their defense in a playoff game Harden and Westbrook can and will. IT can't because of his size disadvantage.

How will IT play when he's surrounded by another player or two that can also score the ball? How did it work out in Sacramento with Cousins? Did they click together? Obviously not, they traded IT, so did the Suns. Will he give the ball up to another scorer period? Is he, in fact a point guard on a real, serious contender? Say top 2 or 3 team. I'm not sure. 

Until then I'm leery of giving him a blockbuster contract, thus welding him to the Celtic organization until the contract runs out.

The name of the game is winning championships, and not collecting player jerseys.

[guava_wrench]

It is easy to exaggerate IT's value in a trade. He is still really small and creates issues with putting out a balanced lineup. His shortcomings make it hard for a team interested in competing for rings to send a large contract his way.

[GreenFaith1819]

Even with his shortcomings I believe that Isaiah Thomas is untradeable.

Beyond his scoring prowess he is the face of The Boston Celtics right now and a leader.

We need to build around him, Big Al, AB, Jae and whatever piece(s) that Danny brings in here.

[CelticPride2016]

You have to wait and see how it plays out. So many Celtics have taken their games up several notches under Brad Stevens. It can't be a coincidence.

Maybe Isaiah gets even better. The key for him is he needs to be healthy. Then you go to championship war with him. He is so flashy. Isaiah is worth the price of admission.

Yeah, a few people above have convinced me Isaiah is going nowhere.

Maybe if ingrate fans appreciate IT a bit more, he'll give us a hometown discount.

[vjcsmoke]

52 points by Thomas in our win tonight guys.  That's legit star leading scorer performance.  Not much more to say about that.  If PP is the Truth, then IT is the Real Deal.

[nickagneta]

I think a lot of people in this thread only read the thread title and didnt read the OP. This was a joke thread teasing those that believe we should trade IT. Sometimes you should actually read through a thread to see what its about before posting.

[Bobshot]

I doubt they will have enough cap space to re-sign Thomas and get another star. Though the cap will be increasing. So they probably will have to make a choice.

Right now, IT is the designated scorer. He's getting a lot of touches. That just increases his asking price for a new contract. There aren't enough Brinks' trucks for him and another star.

[SHAQATTACK]

IT and both Nets picks for A. Davis ...

[hpantazo]

I doubt they will have enough cap space to re-sign Thomas and get another star. Though the cap will be increasing. So they probably will have to make a choice.

Right now, IT is the designated scorer. He's getting a lot of touches. That just increases his asking price for a new contract. There aren't enough Brinks' trucks for him and another star.

It's not just re-signing IT. Its IT, Bradley, and Olynyk, and later on Crowder. IT and Bradley are going to get max deals. Its just a question of which team they will be playing for. Those two and Crowder are on bargain contracts and all totally tradable. That's the main reason why I believe one of them will go soon along with our picks. We can't re-sign them all and still hope to get another star here. One or two of them have to go , so might as well move them while the value is very high. IT is the guy I would keep though.

[nickagneta]

I doubt they will have enough cap space to re-sign Thomas and get another star. Though the cap will be increasing. So they probably will have to make a choice.

Right now, IT is the designated scorer. He's getting a lot of touches. That just increases his asking price for a new contract. There aren't enough Brinks' trucks for him and another star.

It's not just re-signing IT. Its IT, Bradley, and Olynyk, and later on Crowder. IT and Bradley are going to get max deals. Its just a question of which team they will be playing for. Those two and Crowder are on bargain contracts and all totally tradable. That's the main reason why I believe one of them will go soon along with our picks. We can't re-sign them all and still hope to get another star here. One or two of them have to go , so might as well move them while the value is very high. IT is the guy I would keep though.

IT and Bradley dont need to be signed until after the 2017-18 season. If the Cs sign a max level free agent this year, which would mean KO would be let go, the Cs can go over the cap to resign Bradley and IT. The tax cap will be about $140 million or so by then so if the Cs are a contender, I could see the Celtics resigning both

[Jvalin]

Let's say the Bucks GM calls Danny inquiring about IT.

Isaiah for Jabari straight up
Who says no?

Smart
Bradley
Crowder
Jabari
Horford