IT4 believes he's due a MAX contract

[Scintan]

A guy who thinks he deserves max, does not tell the world he should be paid it

John Wall disagrees.   LeBron James disagrees, too.

[the TRUTH]

I love IT as a player - his talent, how tough he is, how clutch he is, etc. As someone earlier in this thread said, a league with 30 teams will have players that aren't necessarily superstars making the max. So in that sense, I do think IT will get the max, whether it's from us or elsewhere.

I think Ainge's decision on IT will come down in part to how the 2018 season unfolds for IT, particularly if IT becomes/stays healthy and continues to play like he did in 2017 both in the regular season and playoffs. The other factor in Ainge's decision will come down to how close he feels the C's are to winning a title in 2018-19. If he thinks that re-signing IT and making moves that are realistic with Boston's assets at that time (summer of 2018) make us a very strong contender for the title in 2019 and beyond, then it makes sense to pay the market value for IT. But if he thinks that, even with IT and those realistic moves, Boston is still 2, 3 or even 4 years from winning a title, then I don't think Ainge breaks the bank to keep IT. 

[ausbacker]

28 and he's had one elite season and a couple of OK seasons in his entire NBA career. Until Thomas shows he's capable of sustained elite performance, I wouldn't entertain offering him anywhere near the max. 2017/2018 will go a long way to establishing this.

[max215]

A guy who thinks he deserves max, does not tell the world he should be paid it

John Wall disagrees.   LeBron James disagrees, too.

It's also not like he's offering up this info unprompted. People keep baiting him.

[CelticSince83]

A guy who thinks he deserves max, does not tell the world he should be paid it

John Wall disagrees.   LeBron James disagrees, too.

It's also not like he's offering up this info unprompted. People keep baiting him.

I get that his comments from Friday were solicited, but he also knows full well that the Bradley trade had just as much to do with the Hayward acquisition as it did that he and Bradley were both up for new deals next summer & that ownership wasn't going to pay premium dollars for both.  Yet hours after Bradley (the longest tenured Celtic & awesome teammate) became a cap casualty, he still felt it was necessary to go out of his way to talk about his max deal.  He has 300 some odd days to chirp about how much he should get paid next summer, could have easily avoided it in this instance.     

[Scintan]

A guy who thinks he deserves max, does not tell the world he should be paid it

John Wall disagrees.   LeBron James disagrees, too.

It's also not like he's offering up this info unprompted. People keep baiting him.

When it comes to players and money, fans have a tendency to get really unreasonable.

[makaveli]

like before, i have full confidence in the front office abilities. going into the offseason we were facing some serious crossroads. Draft or trade the pick, will we land PG, Hayward etc. , what about the IT and Bradley expiring contract, KO.
right now, i can't say that thinks could have gone any better. a brilliant trade down, Hayward is landed, KO and Bradley will be missed.
IT is now the biggest challenge to face in the upcoming season, options:
1. we have a great season, reach the nba finals, most likely he resigns
2. angie thinks that IT can't lead us, doesn't want to give him big bucks, trades him at the all star break
3. x factor, other teams.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Omg.  We should trade him for a late first/early 2nd round pick.  He's too short. 

[Diggles]

Let's wait and cross that bridge when we get there.   If IT is balling out and someone offers us the world for him maybe we trade him.   Or maybe we don't.  It's only money.  Lol

[OldSchoolDude]

I do not believe IT will get the max from us.  I think he will get the same deal Hayward got, but from a team like Brooklyn.

I don't like IT but I recognize what he brings offensively.   I also recognize what he gives up defensively.   Skip Bayless said that IT ranked 410 out of 411 NBA players in defense with only Doug McDermott being worse defensively.  We already are subbing him out on defensive in close games, that is not something one does with a max player.  Say what you will about Horford's max deal but we want him on the court in crunch time on both ends of the floor.  But IT is instant offense and we desperately needed that for years. 

In the past when myself and others criticized Thomas, the IT apologists would ask the question who else is going to score 20+ a game?  Who else on this team can get their own shot?  Well now we have answers to those questions.

2016-2017                                                 2017-2018
Celtics who are legit 20+ scores/ Celtics who are legit 20+ scores
Thomas                                                        Thomas
                                                                       Hayward

2016-2017                                           2017-2018
Celtics who can get their own shot                           

Thomas                                             Thomas
Rozier                                                 Hayward
Smart, but he can't make it.            Morris
Brown showed flashes                    Rozier
                                                           Tatum
                                                           Brown looks like he can this year
                                                           Smart, but is this the year his shot improves?

We still need the offense from Thomas only not as much as we have another guy who can be the go to score in Hayward.  Also Rozier and Brown were limited in their minutes and Brown deferred a lot to the vets, so really only IT and Smart could get their own shot.  This led to a lot of passing around hoping someone else would shoot when IT was on the bench.  This will be different this year as we should have  an improved Rozeir, Tatum, and possibly Brown on the bench who can all get their own shot.  Also we will have Hayward and Morris in the starting lineup along with IT who can all get their own shot.   I think Morris will surprise a lot of fans who have no idea what he can do.  He's a bigger, faster Crowder who can create for himself.   

The make up of this team is changing we are brining in tough physical guys who can defend and can score.    There was a softness and a timidness about this team and that is no longer going to be the case.  I think the payers who really needed IT to be a ball dominant score first PG are gone or going.  I think IT will need to play a bit less selfishly to make it work and I think he can do that, but when he does he will not be putting up 30+ point games.  He may only be scoring 16-20.  No way he averages 29 on this new roster.  And then is he really worth 5 years 175 million?  Is he worth 4 years 140 million? 

Out                                   In
                                         
KO                                    Daniel Theis
Amir                                 Marcus Morris
Zeller                                Zizic
Bradley                             Tatum

As good as gone                Probably In

Young                              Nader
Jackson                            Allen
Mickey                             Ojeleye                             
Green

                                     May end up back

                                     Jerebco
                                   
                                    Special G-League slots
       
                                    Jabari Bird
                                    Yabuselle

[gouki88]

28 and he's had one elite season and a couple of OK seasons in his entire NBA career. Until Thomas shows he's capable of sustained elite performance, I wouldn't entertain offering him anywhere near the max. 2017/2018 will go a long way to establishing this.

You're ignoring that he's been one of the best point guards in the league since joining Boston.

His numbers are almost identical to Kyrie as a Celtic, so he likely will get a max/near max.

[Darío SpanishFan]

28 and he's had one elite season and a couple of OK seasons in his entire NBA career. Until Thomas shows he's capable of sustained elite performance, I wouldn't entertain offering him anywhere near the max. 2017/2018 will go a long way to establishing this.

You're ignoring that he's been one of the best point guards in the league since joining Boston.

His numbers are almost identical to Kyrie as a Celtic, so he likely will get a max/near max.

But Kyrie plays with LeBron and Love, while Boston has been playing for IT.

And we better not talk about playoff performances.

About the general situation, not many teams will have space to give Thomas the max in 2018, except the case of an unexpected big rise of the salary cap. Also, there are players such as LeBron, Paul George, Cousins, Brook Lopez, Chris Paul, Bradley, Monroe, Favors, Durant (player option) and all the restricted class. A lot of money to be spent and many players will change teams and command the max.

I don't think IT has the slightest leverage except he plays superbly and carries the team into the Finals with a great playoff performance.

[Tr1boy]

If I was IT4/agent i would ask for an extension now that all the major Celtics moves are under books

If he sees Danny/Wyc hesitation...... I would ask for a trade

another hip strain/injury or any other kind of injury and his value could drop significantly

4 years 100 million dollar deal (3 years + player option)  is good and safe for him

[OldSchoolDude]

If I was IT4/agent i would ask for an extension now that all the major Celtics moves are under books

If he sees Danny/Wyc hesitation...... I would ask for a trade

another hip strain/injury or any other kind of injury and his value could drop significantly

4 years 100 million dollar deal (3 years + player option)  is good and safe for him

That's on insult to him.  Otto Porter got 4 years 106.5 million, IT was 2nd team all nba and a two time all star.   offering him Otto's deal is an insult for him, not a good safe deal.  He needs a 5 year deal from us and a 4 year deal from another team, because he is at the age were players loose a step and when he gets just a little bit slower he becomes useless (see game 1 & 2 vs cavs). 

This will be IT' last contract.  A 33/32 year-old IT will not be as quick and not be worth wile for a team. I don't think any one believes he'll be able to play out the value of a full max but I think he truly deserves a full max contract.  It's just that I don't think he is the best fit for us long term.  We have players that can create their own offense now, and we may get another one through trade or FA.  Our team is evolving and unless he wants an Evan Turner deal, I don't see him on the team after this year. A full max for smart we'll be a lot less and I think Smart can be had for less than the max anyway.

[Green-18]

I don't know how to articulate my point properly but there are still way too many people that don't understand the negative implications of playing hardball with IT.  The trajectory of our Franchise changed dramatically once he came over from the Suns.  Regardless of his deficiencies on defense there is no way to properly quantify the impact he has had in making us a relevant contender within the Eastern Conference.  Al Horford and Gordon Hayward didn't come here with a belief that IT will be allowed to walk in free agency.  IT played a prominent role in BOTH meetings.  Letting IT walk over $5 million per year is a great way to erase the progress we have made as a free agent destination.  I would argue that the opportunity cost of letting him walk greatly outweighs the risks of him being significantly overpaid during the last 2 years of a max contract.  I think a lot of people use our Assets as justification to let IT walk when in reality it's the exact opposite.  Our future flexibility is what allows us to contend now without worrying about hitting a ceiling like the Toronto Raptors. 

I challenge those who are against an IT max contract to put together an alternative scenario for building our roster after this season.  Please consider all implications to the franchise and don't fallback on the IT is a defensive liability argument.  What about the message it sends to Horford and Hayward?  Will they be okay taking a step back during their prime years?  What if Brad Stevens has an issue?  What about the fact that resigning Smart alone will put us over the cap and that there is no way to replace IT on the open market?  Does IT walking have an impact on team chemistry if we don't have an immediate plan to bring in another top tier talent?  Unless there's an opportunity to acquire a top tier star (Anthony Davis) then I see no reason to not pay IT the max contract.  It just makes our franchise look cheap.