As the calendar turns to 2021, former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas is still looking for a new team. Thomas last played for the Wizards this past season. Thomas has said multiple times during the last few months that he is “back to his star form”. His decline has been in large part due to various injuries that stuck with him for full seasons. Now that his injuries are healed though, he’ll be a better player than he was in the past few seasons.
Midway through the off season, the Celtics had lost guard Brad Wanamaker. They then were searching for a replacement who could take his place off the bench. That replacement ended up being former Hawks guard Jeff Teague. This was a perfect opportunity for an Isaiah Thomas Celtics reunion but GM Danny Ainge failed to capitalize. Teague hasn’t been bad. It’d be a lot better though to have Thomas in his spot. Largely because of his higher ceiling and popularity within the city of Boston.
They still could use Thomas:
Even with Jeff Teague coming to Boston in what could of been Thomas’ spot, there is still a need for depth at the guard position. Especially with Kemba Walker hurt. Thomas has a great skillset and could be a lot better than Jeff Teague or Payton Pritchard. Something that could help him in Boston is the chemistry he has with his teammates that still remain from his tenure. He also has the connection he has with coach Brad Stevens.
In the past few years bouncing around the league, he was still productive. Even during injury plagued seasons. He averaged 15 PPG in 2018 while coming off the bench. Currently, he’s free of injuries and good to go.
Thomas deserves another chance in this league. He is probably better than 70% of the guards coming off the bench right now in the NBA and has the ceiling of a star player. He’s exactly what the Celtics need – someone who can lead the bench unit and create some spacing. Maybe, he could even get back to star form and become the starter at Point Guard while Kemba is still hurt.
No NBA GM should pass on the potential that he brings off the bench. Whether you think he should return to Boston or not, everybody can agree that he should have a spot in this league. He would be a low budget option probably on a league minimum contract. Especially for teams that need guards, there are no excuses not to bring in a player like him that is hungry to prove himself.
No matter where he ends up, Boston will be rooting for him to succeed. Hopefully he ends up somewhere that is a perfect fit and proves to all his doubters that he still has something left in the tank.