On path to superstardom, Celtics' Isaiah Thomas controls his own destiny

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/02/24/isaiah-thomas-celtics-lakers-magic-johnson-paul-george/98372510/



On path to superstardom, Celtics' Isaiah Thomas controls his own destiny



Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports



Updated 2 hours ago



When the NBA’s salary cap started spiking as if it had been hit with a defibrillator last summer, Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas was asked to share his perspective on how the league’s new landscape might ultimately impact his situation.

“They better bring out the Brinks truck,” Thomas, who will be a free agent in the summer of 2018, had joked with reporters while in Las Vegas to watch the Celtics’ summer league team. “They’re paying everybody else. I gotta get something.”



Isaiah Thomas
Jaime Valdez, USA TODAY Sports


They may need two trucks by the time his payday rolls around. And in the wake of the Celtics standing pat at Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, most notably after their failed attempt to land the Indiana Pacers’ Paul George, it’s fair to wonder: what will it cost to keep Thomas happy in Beantown?

As rags-to-riches NBA stories go, Thomas’ is on pace to be an all-timer. In the span of six seasons, from the University of Washington to Sacramento to Phoenix to this Celtics situation that has sparked his stardom, the 28-year-old who was the final pick of the 2011 draft has beaten the odds at every turn. And now, with the two-time All-Star playing on perhaps the league's best value deal ($6.58 million this season and $6.26 million next), the notion of quintupling his salary sometime soon is entirely possible.

Thomas and the Celtics have a few options here.

1.  Should the Celtics still have their top first-round pick (via Brooklyn) on draft night, and if they aren’t inclined to back the Brinks truck up for Thomas, they could select a new point guard for their future by taking either fellow Huskie Markelle Fultz or UCLA’s Lonzo Ball. Yet considering Thomas has played his way into the MVP conversation this season while carrying the Celtics to elite status in the Eastern Conference, and the reality that rookies simply don’t lead teams to titles no matter how talented they are, this is the least likely of the options – by a longshot.

2.  Depending on the state of the Celtics’ payroll on July 12 – post-draft and 12 days into free agency – they could renegotiate and extend his contract as a way to lock him up long-term. That deal, based on current salary cap projections, would be worth a combined $145.5 million and run through the 2021-22 season ($33.3 million salary for that season). The league’s collective bargaining agreement dictates that a player must wait three years after signing to renegotiate, and that date marks the beginning of that period for Thomas. The Celtics would need the necessary salary cap room to do such a deal, which is unlikely considering their aspirations. If they don't trade for a star like George or Chicago's Jimmy Butler, they would likely pursue free agents like Gordon Hayward (currently with the Utah Jazz) as a means to a big-time upgrade (who would take up said cap space, considering free agency begins on July 1).

3.  The most likely option would come in the following summer, when Thomas could sign a max contract worth a combined $179 million over five years (topping out at $40.8 million in the 2022-23 season). If, of course, his wandering eye doesn’t lead him elsewhere in free agency.

For Thomas’ part, he swears he isn’t pondering the possibilities just yet.
“Honestly, I haven't looked that far, but I know when that time comes it's definitely going to be a decision that I make that's best for me and my family,” Thomas told USA TODAY Sports on a recent visit to the NBA A to Z podcast (before the trade deadline). “I love Boston. They changed my career. They've given me an opportunity of a lifetime, and I can't thank them enough. But at the end of the day, as a businessman and as a professional basketball player, I've got to keep my options open.

“I would love to be in Boston. I would love to bring a championship to Boston, and hopefully one day be a Boston Celtics legend like Danny Ainge said…You know this game is business, and you never know what's going to happen. So I've definitely got to keep my options open.”

It’s that last part that says it all, of course. Even with the mutual admiration society feel to this Thomas-Celtics relationship, it’s clear he’s not about to close any free agency doors for the sake of premature loyalty. And as is the case with George, who is known to be very interested in signing with the Lakers in the summer of 2018 if he can’t contend for a title with the Pacers, the threat of Magic Johnson & Co. looms large.

In the span of 18 days, Johnson went from being added by Lakers president Jeanie Buss as an adviser to taking on a president of basketball operations role that makes him the top basketball boss. And coincidentally, the Lakers Legend who both George and Thomas grew up idolizing, Kobe Bryant, is expected to be more involved than ever in his post-retirement days. What’s more, Thomas has already tried to go down this purple and gold road twice before: the 2011 draft in which he was the 60th and final pick (by the Kings), and free agency in the summer of 2014 (when he signed with Phoenix).


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