When Danny Ainge traded Marcus Thornton and a draft pick to the Suns for Isaiah Thomas, few regarded it as a franchise-altering deal. Fast forward to 2017, however, and the 5’9″ scoring point guard has made a name for himself as both the Celtics’ most dependable option and perhaps the team-leading star they’re so often said to be seeking.
Even with the addition of Al Horford, who signed a max contract to play in Boston last summer, Thomas has stepped up and carried the team on a regular basis. According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, he’s the biggest source of star power in Beantown since the end of the Big Three era.
Perhaps most interesting about Thomas’ ascent as an All-Star in Boston, however, is his abnormally cheap contract — especially considering the raises that have been doled out in the years since the point guard signed his deal with Phoenix in 2014.
As Washburn explains, Thomas’ contract comes in the form of an extremely team-friendly $6.6M salary, with that value even dropping slightly in 2017/18. He’ll be eligible to sign a contract extension this summer, but a straight extension would only allow for a 20% pay increase, a pittance of what he’d be worth on the open market. If Boston has cap room available, the team could renegotiate the deal, giving Thomas a larger raise.
“It may not be in Thomas’s best interest to sign an extension now,” Washburn adds, “but it’s worth it for the Celtics to begin talks, and it would give Thomas the impression that the organization believes in him long term“.
Worth noting is that Ainge has long been a fan of Thomas’, even before the 2015 trade through which he acquired him. As Thomas told Josue Pavon of WEEI 93.7FM, Ainge was the first executive to come calling during the 2014 free agency period.
Isaiah Thomas is my favourite player to watch by far.
Then you’ve never seen Giannis Antetekounmpo play.
You should mention that not only can he be extended for an amount that isn’t realistic, but also his contract can be renegotiated and extended instead to get him terms he’d actually accept. Boston should have (or the ability to make) cap room for that.
Yep, good call, added a note about that.
If BKN/BOS get the #1 pick, who do they take? Lol. Draft yet another guard? Take Josh Jackson when they just drafted Jaylen Brown? Harry Giles or Jayson Tatum?
They trade rozier/smart in a package for a big man then they draft malik monk
Im sorry not malik monk they will use that pick on lonzo ball
I could see that. Except, the demand for point guards is not great around the league, and there’s several in this year’s draft–fultz, dsj, fox, ntilikina. some might even include monk and sumner and evans. I think ainge has been offering smart without success already. Adding Rozier might make the difference.
Not just Boston, I wonder what the Suns or the Twolves will do if they get #1. Gonna be really exciting draft this year.
I’m honestly anticipating a lot of trades
Loved the fit for Isaiah when they traded for him, though obviously still didn’t see it being like this lol. I said they’d make the playoffs after they made that trade, and was right. I just liked the scoring he could give them, and how it fit with their defensive minded guards, at the time. It allows him to hide on certain players while Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder take on the tough defensive assignments
Isaiah is awesome. Glad he has proved everyone wrong and keeps doing so. I would like to see him dunk more though, actually I don’t think I’ve seen him dunk in the nba. I’ve seen him do some crazy stuff in warm ups in college. He is gonna deserve his big contract after being on this deal. They are going to have to decide on Avery Bradley too, and he is going to command big money. It’s crazy they were teammates in highschool, called them fire and Ice, then they both left for prep schools before college.