Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas is confident that he will be fully healed from a hip injury in time for training camp, writes Stephen Hewitt of The Boston Herald.
Thomas aggravated a hip strain in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals and was forced to sit out the rest of the playoffs. He chose to let the injury heal without surgery and recently began workouts again after more than two months of rest.
“The hip is great,” Thomas said Saturday as he conducted a youth basketball clinic in Boston. “It’s a real slow rehab process, but it’s getting better and that’s what it’s all about.”
Thomas’ health is important not only to the Celtics’ title chances, but also to his financial future. He is headed toward free agency next summer and will be looking to cash in after making less than $6.3MM for the upcoming season. He has been open in the media about his desire for a maximum contract.
“I deserve it,” he said. “I put the work in, and you can put me down against any guard in the NBA. … My numbers are up there with the best players in the world, and my team is winning. So, I mean, you have to reward that. I’m just going to keep working though. My time is gonna come. I have a lot of faith in God, and I just have to keep working to get better.”
“I don’t really want to comment on that, I don’t know what’s going on over there,” Thomas said. “I know just as much as everybody else knows. If [Irving] leaves, he leaves. If he doesn’t, then we know how good of a team they are, and we know how good of a player he is.”
I don’t know why but I am starting to really dislike this guy.
REALLY hoping that Ainge doesn’t give him a max deal. Nice player, but not a starting guard for a championship contending team because of his height.
Same.
He has shown over the years that his height doesn’t matter. He was third in scoring last season with that height, and he only seems to be getting better.
there are two ends of the floor. worst defensive pg in the league.
Doesn’t matter how many points you score if you let your opponent score the same number.
That’s fine, but tell me how to replace him when we are up to the cap. They’ll be over the cap regardless of whether or not he signs that contract anyways, so that shouldn’t be a factor. If Cleveland trades Kyrie in a move to build toward the future, or even to MIN for Teague plus picks and stuff, I think Boston becomes the favorite to win the East. You can’t walk away from your star player on a team that has an opportunity to be a perennial finals contender.
C’s should seriously explore an Irving for Thomas (plus spare salary pieces) swap. Drafted the same year at opposite ends of the draft (first / last) but with strikingly similar stats. Thomas was always a salary bargain. But I prefer Irving if they start getting paid the same amount. Irving is cost controlled for two more seasons. Of course adding him to the C’s gives them a big three of Horford, Hayward, Irving and likely takes them out of the running for another superstar.
The problem with that is Boston doesn’t have much “spare salary”. They’d have to move some of Baynes, Crowder, Morris, Smart, Rozier, Brown, Tatum, and Thomas. Not much of that is spare. People are freaking out because of the lack of defense now that Bradley is gone, which is ridiculous. The team still has enough to cover for his loss. But that kind of thinking would have to remove Baynes, Crowder, and Smart from consideration since people seem to believe the team will be starved for defense. I love Bradley, he was a good defender. A great defender. But defense is more replaceable than offense, and they can cover it. But the problem is at that point to get enough salary you would have to include Brown or Tatum, and that’s not worth it.
How can you not like a 5’9″ guy who scored almost 29ppm with big numbers in the 4th quarter who recruits All Stars for Ainge/Celtics. Horford would not be a Celtic and maybe not Hayward or at least maybe he stays in Utah. Isiah is good for lots of reasons. He is extremely underpaid and one of the best trades DA has ever made. Is he I max player? Probably but maybe not for 5 or 6 years. Maybe it’s 3 with a 4th year option or something like that.
Very true about horford. I’d agree with he’s a max guy for 3 years but a fourth year would have to be a team option only because his defense is just horrendous. I love IT but losing Bradley will show how bad IT really is at defense
I love Thomas. He brings grit and heart to a team that desperately needed it last season. This isn’t an easy decision, but I love my Celtics more than Thomas. His injuries scare me, and his athleticism is the only thing making up for him being able to create separating and nullify his height disadvantage. You have to field trade offers for him this season. Lets hope Ainge handles his exit better than Bradley’s.
Morris is a good player. I don’t understand the outcry over this trade. They weren’t going to be able to afford both of them and Smart, and they picked IT. Bradley wouldn’t send this team to the finals without IT. IT can do it without Bradley, assuming Kyrie is traded and maybe even if he isn’t.