Isaiah thomas should be a 6th man next year

[Hawkeye199]

 Isaiah is our best option on offense he is a great leader and a great personality for the locker room.
I was impressed with how he accepted was willing to play on the bench even though he is a starter level talent.

However what makes him so good offensively is what hinders him defensively.

 He is our weakest guard defensively and other teams know this.
 this is from the cars talking about their last years series vs isaiah.

the Cleveland Cavaliers’ plan to limit Isaiah Thomas? Make him play defense. The explosive Boston Celtics point guard is a wizard on the offensive end but probably the weakest defender in the C’s backcourt. The Cavs, who host the Celtics on Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, aim to exploit that. “I think it’s a collective effort,” Cleveland reserve Shawn Marion said Saturday, via the Boston Herald. “We know Isaiah Thomas comes off the bench and it’s predominantly him shooting every time. He’s averaging 20 points off the bench. “You know, he’s a handful, so we’ve got to make sure we lock in on him and make him play both ends of the floor. If he wants to shoot 20 times, he’s going to have to guard 20 times, you know what I’m saying? “… Some guys can go out there and get 30 points, but make them play [dang] defense. They can give up 30 points on the other end just as well. It’s a two-way street.”

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/04/cavaliers-aim-to-expose-isaiah-thomas-defensive-shortcomings/


And while Thomas will be a minus defender for the foreseeable future, he contributes 1.2 steals per contest to a team that generates the second most in the league (9.6).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2016/02/10/isaiah-thomas-has-the-young-celtics-way-ahead-of-schedule/


thomas defensive box plus minus is a negative two.

 I suggest when we go into the playoffs we put him on the bench.  Or next year try and get someone to help improve our offense tremendously so isaiah can be on the bench and we can hide isaiah defensive woes better.

  What do you think? Can isaih defense do enough against other pg in the playoffs?  Got any other ideas comment below

[MasterEmile]

This again ? 

I guess the guy is an all star for a reason, and he's played more than well enough to deserve the starting spot.

[kozlodoev]

No, we should trade him for Chandler Parsons and a bag of peanuts.

[Granath]

I suggest when we go into the playoffs we put him on the bench.

I suggest that a plan that revolves around benching your only all-star when you get into the playoffs is sheer lunacy.

[esel1000]

The whole defensive limitation thing is overblown... He's no Smart on defense but he isn't terrible. His offense is also so good that he's worth the liability...

Hopefully he won't be our #1 option next season, but his scoring and playmaking for this team right now is too good for a bench role. We took off this season when he finally started

[mmmmm]

Sigh ...  please. 

Just.  Stop. The. Madness.

With Isaiah ON the floor, our defense is STILL the equivalent of the 10th or 11th ranked defense in the NBA while our offense is equivalent to the #3 ranked offense.

With Isaiah OFF the floor, sure, our defense improves marginally to what would be the #3 defense ... but our offense tanks all the way to what would be #29.

[Boris Badenov]

Steph Curry and Klay Thompson both have negative DBPMs as well. Klay's is even worse than IT's.

Perhaps the Warriors should bench them for the playoffs.

[Grindfather]

Dame Lillard is also -2 in Box Plus/Minus, should Portland bring him off the bench in the playoffs too? 

Isaiah's offensive contributions far offset his defensive liabilities, especially considering the other players on the floor with him.  You are less likely to have IT on the floor with strong defenders if he's running with the second team. 

[nickagneta]

If Smart could shoot 46/37/75, run the first team offense and still be Marcus Smart on defense and on the boards, then sure, move IT to the bench but still play him 30+ MPG. But until Smart can get anywhere close to being that good, IT is an All-Star and deserves to start. I am not sure there is a relevant stat anywhere that shows it is wise to pull IT from the starting five, so the point is moot, IMHO.

[Denis998]

This post is infuriating on multiple levels.