Boston Celtics: Why Trading Isaiah Thomas Might Not Be A Crazy Idea

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Feb 26, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) shoots during the third quarter as Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) defends at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

The Player

To say Isaiah Thomas is having an amazing season is an understatement. He’s likely to finish either fifth or sixth in the MVP balloting, will make Second Team All-NBA, and is averaging thirty freaking points a game.

Thomas is not only having one of the most statistically effective seasons for a guard ever, but he’s doing it efficiently as well. He’s 10th in the league in true shooting percentage, one spot ahead of James Harden, two ahead of LeBron James, and three ahead of Steph Curry. Go back and look at the numbers from Allen Iverson‘s MVP season, and Thomas beats them in virtually every category…except one.

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Defense? We talkin’ bout defense?

Iverson, along with every other guard who has ever been in MVP discussions, was at least physically capable of holding his own on the defensive end of the floor. Thomas may very well be the hardest worker of them all, but at 185 pounds soaking wet, he’s simply limited on defense in ways that can’t be hidden against great teams.

The numbers back it up: his defensive box plus / minus rate is -3.4 according to Basketball Reference. It’s not a perfect stat (notorious gambler Russell Westbrook is third in the league), but it gives an indication of just how much the team struggles defensively when he’s on the floor.

So what? Who cares that Thomas is a minus on defense, as long as he keeps making magic on the other end of the floor? Ask Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors that question. For seven games, the Cavs had the two-time reigning MVP switching on every conceivable pick and roll. We saw it wear him down before our very eyes, and by the end of that series, he was completely drained on both ends of the court.

Curry has at least six inches on Thomas, and we haven’t seen a team try to expose IT to that degree in a prolonged playoff bout…yet. As long as Thomas is on the floor, there may be a ceiling to how competitive the Boston Celtics can be against the best teams in the league over a seven game series. Despite Thomas’ offensive brilliance, Boston may have to consider the possibility that it will never measure up against the teams they’ll need to beat to win it all as long as he is on the floor.

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