Is Isaiah Thomas Planning a Return to the Celtics? ‘Anything Can Happen’

https://www.yahoo.com/news/isaiah-thomas-planning-return-celtics-103542758.html



Is Isaiah Thomas Planning a Return to the Celtics? ‘Anything Can Happen’




Newsweek  Dan Cancian,Newsweek 4 hours ago



Isaiah Thomas’s departure from the Boston Celtics was far from amicable but he has not ruled out a return to the TD Garden.

Last summer, Thomas was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside Ante Žižić, Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected 2018 first-round draft pick, while Kyrie Irving went the other way.


Isaiah Thomas (centre) is averaging 15.9 points with the Lakers. Getty Images


Speaking to Sports Illustrated shortly before the beginning of the regular season, Thomas suggested he might never talk to Celtics’ general manager Danny Ainge again.

However, in January the point guard said he had reconciled with Ainge and during a Q&A session on Twitter on Sunday he seemed to leave the door ajar over a possible return to Boston.

“Anything can happen”, was Thomas’ non-committal reply to a user who had asked him whether he would “consider coming back to Boston this offseason?”

Last season, Thomas was instrumental as the Celtics reached the conference finals for the first time in five years, scoring over 30 points in his team’s first eight post-season games, including a 53-point game against the Wizards, that saw him become only the fifth Celtic to score 50 or more in a playoff game.

Thomas’ season, however, ended two games into the Eastern Conference final with a serious hip injury and the Cavs dispatched Boston 4-1.

The-29-year-old did not return to action until January 2 and his stay in Ohio lasted just 15 games before he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with Channing Frye and a 2018 first-round pick in exchange for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.

While Thomas might find the prospect of wearing green again appealing, it remains to be seen whether the Celtics would be keen on the idea.

Since his move to the Lakers, Thomas has averaged 15.9 points and 5.3 assists in 27 minutes. The figures are way down from the 28.9 points in 33.8 minutes he put up in the regular season last year but it is worth bearing in mind he has been utilized mainly off the bench by the Lakers and he is still working his way back to full fitness.

However, even when fully recovered, it would be a stretch to imagine the Celtics handing Thomas the keys to the team, which have been firmly in Irving’s hands this season.

The former Cav has averaged 24.4 points and 5.1 assists in 32.2 minutes this season, compared with 21.6 points and 5.5 assists in 34.2 during his six years in Cleveland.

Thomas will be a free agent in the summer and while a return to Boston might not materialize, a number of franchises are likely to be very interested.



bob
MY NOTE:  IT has said he will not entertain any offers that would have him being a 6th man off the bench.  He wants to start.  I don't see him replacing Kyrie in the starting lineup and a starting back court of Kyrie and IT would be offensively explosive and defensively non-existent.  Neither of those two players are multi-position players, so you cannot pair them for more than a few minutes without triggering a Pavlovian response in the other team's coach.  Furthermore, I don't see how Danny could come up with the salary cap money for him, even if IT took much less than what he expects (and he expects a Brinks truck).  So, while "anything is possible", to quote KG, I don't see this as probable.

What a great feel-good story it would be though, huh?  The Little Guy, who fell in love with Boston, who loved being a Boston Celtic and has a love affair with its fans coming home.  A real fairy tale.  In real life, however, ogres have bad breath, princesses are ultra-high maintenance pain-in-the-asses and beanstalks don't go all the way up to castles in the clouds.


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Sorry, but no room for IT back in Boston with his "I have to be a starter" mentality. Also, there are no Brink's trucks coming his way in Boston, and probably not anywhere else either. This season he has come off as being a very selfish thinking young man.

He had great success while in Boston with Brad Stevens, and not so great success in other places. He wore out his welcome in Cleveland and possibly also in LA. Could he be yet another guy that Stevens could reach and others cannot as the list of such guys seems to continually get longer and longer.

Thomas will have to find the exact fit for his style and personality to ever get paid the way he wants to be paid if he can perform to his 2017 season. This means that he will have to find the perfect coach, the team that only needs what he can do, and have a whole bunch of superior defenders already on said team.

I will predict that such a place is very unlikely to surface for Mr. Thomas and as a result he will end up being a very unhappy guy because he never gets paid the way he thinks he should. He played hard in Boston, and it is too bad that he decided to put extreme money over happiness.

Wishful thinking on IT's part. this will never happen.

I guess if Smart, Baynes and Monroe were not on the radar, a scorer off the bench would be nice.

IT is in a tough situation.  Boston was a near perfect fit for him.  His salary demands are not likely to be met.  I think he gets an MLE contract for a year or 2.

He has come out and said he would not come off the bench for any team.

Just think: JJ Redick got about $24 million dollars this year, Kyle Korver? I don't know what he got in Cleveland, but He must have made a ton of money over the years coming off the bench, stepping on the court and hitting those threes.

If IT could think ahead, he would be better coming off the bench as a (as I call them) gunslinger. Heat up, hit a bunch of three's, win a bunch of games for his team and get handsomely paid. He just will not look at that.

You would have to say Danny spoiled him, made him a starter and now, going back, is a slap in the face. Too bad