Why would we trade the guy who's easily our best offensive player, the guy who was the biggest factor in our 24-12 finish and the only guy who can get buckets at will on this team right now, for a big man like Gorgui Dieng.
That's literally insane. You wanna trade our best player, who's only 26 and under an unbelievably good contract for a back-up level C who's the same age? Why?! Cause he's a "rim protector"?
Amir Johnson and Tyler Zeller are our rim protectors and while that may not be ideal, it's certainly serviceable. Between them and Mickey, we certainly won't be last in blocked shots again and our middle of the road defense last year will take a step into the top 10.
IT is a genuine difference maker on offense, you'd have to be crazy to trade him for a guy like Dieng .
I wouldn't trade IT for Dieng, but the fact that IT is our best offensive player is a problem. I'd love Thomas as a spark off the bench -- Microwave, Eddie House, Hambone Williams. But at 5'9" he is a liability on the floor and simply cant be the offensive focal point. If C's can get a PP type scorer, IT would be a great rotation player on this team. But as the top scorer, it's (double-entendre) a recipe for continued offensive mediocrity.
You say that Thomas is a liability on the floor, but his Real-Plus Minus of stats (+1.45) indicates otherwise. So do the other advanced stats that tell you what happens to our offense when he is on (vs off) the court.
Thomas is a DEFENSIVE liability, yes. But what we gain with him on the court offensively adds up to more than what we lose defensively, and hence he is an asset for us.
I also don't get how you could compare Thomas to Eddie House. Eddie House was a guy who could do pretty much nothing but shoot spot up threes. Isaiah Thomas is an offensive weapon who can handle the ball, pass the ball, and score in a huge variety of ways.
Isaiah Thomas' offensive stats (Points Per 36, Points Per FGA, etc) as a Celtic last season rank up in superstar territory, and are right up there with the very best Paul Pierce has ever averaged. He is not just a shooter, he is a scorer.
His impact on this team should not be underestimated.
Also people can criticism him all day long for his defense but the truth is this...how many of the NBA's elite scorers play defense, really? Carmelo doesn't, Kobe doesn't any more, Lebron does when he feels like it, Rudy Gay doesn't, Blake Griffin doesn't, Derek Rose doesn't...the list goes on. It's not like IT is the only elite scorer in the NBA who is a liability on defense.
In fact, there are probably only 4 or 5 guys in this entire league who can score at the same rate as IT while also not being a liability on defense.
