The Boston Celtics have traded Isaiah Thomas (plus Jae Crowder and the 2018 Nets pick) to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving. Maybe. The two teams are currently at a standstill due to Thomas’ hip injury. The Celtics could be put in an awkward situation of having an injured and pissed off Isaiah Thomas in their locker room if the team has openly tried and failed to trade him. Assuming that the Celtics do what it takes to get Thomas out of there, his time in Boston is over. And it was truly magnificent. Thomas was a hero in Boston, and his head coach, Brad Stevens, is saying nice things. From ESPN’s Chris Forsberg:
Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens engaged in a question-and-answer session Friday at the Basketball Hall of Fame, where a young visitor asked him pointedly why he traded away Isaiah Thomas earlier this week.
“That’s an excellent question,” Stevens answered after laughter dissipated from fans in attendance following the unexpected hard-hitting question. The Celtics traded Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets’ 2018 first-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Kyrie Irving on Tuesday.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you: What [Thomas] did in Boston the last 2½ years has been incredible. I said earlier what he’s meant to me, what I think of him, how great he’s been in the locker room, what kind of teammate he’s been. Those are all really, really, really hard decisions. That’s the hard part about being a professional basketball coach. I’ve stared at the wall many times and thought, ‘Man, having guys in college for four years and knowing exactly when they’re coming and going is a pretty good way of doing things.’ So that’s a tough one.”
Later on, Stevens expanded on the topic in response to a separate question:
“You get a chance in this league to coach such great players; it’s an honor to do that,” Stevens said. “Obviously, to have a guy like Kyrie that’s going to join us, it’s a great opportunity for our organization. Whenever you’re able to obtain a guy like that, there’s inherently major costs involved and those costs are both production on the basketball court but, more importantly to me, the emotional part of it, right?
“[It’s] how tied you are to Isaiah and all that he has done, how fun it’s been to be with him the last 2½ years. And Jae, who has been here just a little bit longer than that and how much fun it’s been to watch him kinda seize an opportunity and make himself one of the more reliable 3-and-D players in the entire league. I guess the hard part about these deals when you’re pursuing some of the best players in the league is that it comes at an emotional and [on-court] cost to your team. Those are really hard things. It’s been a balance for me.”
Isaiah Thomas is the ultimate rags-to-riches story – generously listed at 5-foot-9, he’s always played with a chip the size of a mountain on his shoulder, and has overcome all odds to become an All-NBA caliber NBA player. For the past couple of years, he’s probably been the biggest non-Tom-Brady hero in the city of Boston. It will be extremely interesting to see how this whole situation shakes out.
