Ainge Responds To The "Trade Isaiah" Nonsense

[Sixth Man]

And I call it nonsense because that's how Danny sees it:

“[W]e want to keep Isaiah.

“All I know is that he’s had an amazing year, and who doesn’t want Isaiah Thomas on their team? Like, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Ainge laughed at public concern that Thomas will be too expensive.

“Why do the fans need to worry about how much money he makes?” he said. “I can understand if Isaiah and his wife and his agent are worried about that, but I don’t understand why that’s a conversation that needs to be had in the media.”

Listen, Isaiah has had one of the most impressive seasons in Celtics history in so many ways with what he was able to accomplish,” Ainge said. “I don’t know why people can’t see that.

He's not leaving.  Or, as Steve Bulpett puts it,

I’m sure if New Orleans calls and offers Anthony Davis, draft picks and Mardi Gras beads for life, the Celtics will likely be willing to part with Isaiah Thomas.

But Danny Ainge doesn’t believe the Little Guy is going anywhere — not now nor when his contract expires after next season.

Why would any team trade for IT now, given that he has a bum hip which will probably require surgery?  I've read that he would have an 80% chance of returning to NBA play if he elects for surgery.

Where did you read that?

Whoops, it's claimed that 80% of athletes having this surgery return to prior performance levels.  Here is a link to the article:

https://docflynn.com/2017/05/21/isaiah-thomas-hip-injury/

[Rosco917]

"Rondo can't shoot. TRADE HIM. WE NEED A PG WHO CAN SCORE!"

Now we have a PG who can score (29 PPG!), and yet we want to trade him... 

Tell me this, was Rondo elite on defense?

Being called an elite defender is one thing, being just an ok defender is another thing, but being the least effective or valuable defender in the NBA is not good. I can't think of one defender off hand that has less effect on over all defense than IT.

And if you think the coaches in the NBA don't know it, you're fooling yourself.

[tarheelsxxiii]

When talking about the draft recently, Danny remarked "the hardest thing to find is guys who can score at the end of games".

It seems like Danny highly values the specific skill set that IT is elite at.

http://www.csnne.com/video/danny-ainge-1-1-impact-getting-1-overall-pick

It's not a smokescreen. Danny is smart enough to value top-end talent.

What is remarkable to me is that, after we traded away Pierce, it seemed to me that one of the biggest questions for the rebuild was how long we would have to wait before the team would have that guy again who is the unquestioned bucket-getter, both in terms of "scoring 20+ night-in / night-out" but also who takes the mantle / burden of being the guy to score in crunch time.  I worried that we would spend a long time, as many teams do (see: Orlando) without a scorer to serve as the "premise" for the team's offensive strategy.

Then, we get that guy, almost by accident it seems, in a trade-deadline deal just a year and a half later.  We got our guy!  We barely had to watch this team for a season and a half without anybody who was "the guy," and we got the replacement for basically an expiring contract and an okay 1st rounder.

Now all people want to do is trade that guy away and hand-wring about paying him the market rate for exactly the role he performs.

And yet, if the Celts did move on from Thomas, all we'd hear about is how the team needs a go-to scorer, somebody who causes matchup problems for opposing teams, somebody who can go for for 30-40 on any given night, until Ainge finds somebody else who does that.

Yes, maybe Fultz will show himself to be that kind of player almost from day one.  He might be that kind of talent.

But why are we so eager to give up the possibility of having TWO guys like that?  Isn't that what makes teams like Cleveland and Golden State so deadly -- having multiple players who can break a defense with their transcendent scoring ability?

Well said.  This thread nicely reasons against the "trade IT" sentiment. 

For a guy that has been closely affiliated the Celtics for over 30 years, Ainge's comment about Isaiah's historic season was the most encouraging to me.

[CelticsElite]

What is IT isn't the same after hip surgery? Rondo was never the same after the ACL tear

[PhoSita]

Tell me this, was Rondo elite on defense?

when he wanted to be, which cannot be said of Isaiah Thomas.

But then again Rondo couldn't score or shoot anything like what IT can. If Rondo is unique in Celtic history for his assists and triple doubles then IT is unique in his ability to score and do it so efficiently.

I would argue that Rondo's inconsistency and lack of shooting / overall inability to pressure a defense w/ scoring was a MUCH bigger liability than IT's defense.

[saltlover]

What is IT isn't the same after hip surgery? Rondo was never the same after the ACL tear

Doctors haven't even decided if IT needs hip surgery.  They are not remotely the same injury.

I'm not saying that there isn't a little risk, but IT was able to play through he hip injury well enough for months that we didn't know how injured he was except for occasional hints dropped.  IT might be cured simply by four months of rest and rehab, conveniently timed over the summer.  It's not nothing, but it's also not an ACL.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

 

[Big333223]

What is IT isn't the same after hip surgery? Rondo was never the same after the ACL tear

Well that would make all of this quite a bit simpler, wouldn't it?

[Phantom255x]

I think the "trade IT" folk here forget something.

If you trade IT, a lot of this team won't be happy (like Horford), and that pretty much ends any chance of landing a good FA this summer even if you draft Fultz.

And yeah, without IT, this is a lottery team OR an 8 seed at best. Everyone says the defense is better, which may be true, but it doesn't matter if you don't have legit scorers on the team to capitalize. C's don't have another and that was an issue this past season.

[SHAQATTACK]

i want IT to have surgery and fix his issue.   i understanf those tears do not self repair .

[Roy H.]

i want IT to have surgery and fix his issue.   i understanf those tears do not self repair .

I don't know the medicine side, but it seems like a lot of athletes just rest on torn labrums, at least regarding shoulder injuries.

Anthony Davis has apparently played on a torn shoulder labrum for three seasons.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I think the "trade IT" folk here forget something.

If you trade IT, a lot of this team won't be happy (like Horford), and that pretty much ends any chance of landing a good FA this summer even if you draft Fultz.

And yeah, without IT, this is a lottery team OR an 8 seed at best. Everyone says the defense is better, which may be true, but it doesn't matter if you don't have legit scorers on the team to capitalize. C's don't have another and that was an issue this past season.

Horford's feeeelings should not dictate what this team does. He is not Lebron or even a legit star. He get's paid tens of millions a year and the rest of the guys have all benefited from Boston financially or they will.

DA will make the right move.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

What bothers me about the "trade Isaiah" talk is that people want to trade one of the best scorers in the history of the Celtics. For all of the rich tradition of the Celtics, they haven't had a plethora of guys who could score pretty much at will, and none since Pierce. I know his defense is bad, but without him, this team would be lucky to score 80 a game. And his D wouldn't be much of an issue if the team had any legit defensive bigs instead of all the softies on the current roster.

[Ilikesports17]

I think the "trade IT" folk here forget something.

If you trade IT, a lot of this team won't be happy (like Horford), and that pretty much ends any chance of landing a good FA this summer even if you draft Fultz.

And yeah, without IT, this is a lottery team OR an 8 seed at best. Everyone says the defense is better, which may be true, but it doesn't matter if you don't have legit scorers on the team to capitalize. C's don't have another and that was an issue this past season.

Horford's feeeelings should not dictate what this team does. He is not Lebron or even a legit star. He get's paid tens of millions a year and the rest of the guys have all benefited from Boston financially or they will.

DA will make the right move.

The point is the same. You trade Isaiah you lose the team, you lose the ability to go after Hayward or Milsap or Blake Griffin.

You maybe don't even make the playoffs next year.

That's fine for people who want to blow it up and tank(you) but a lot of people think you can trade OT and then go sign Hayward and expect to make the ECF again next year.

[CelticsJG]

Problem with maxing IT2 is his age. Dude is old(28) in point guard years.