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Imagine a world where Isaiah Thomas returns to the Boston Celtics.
An NBA free agent, Thomas, 31, went from being a second round pick in the 2011 NBA Draft to being beloved by Boston Celtics fans during his stint with the team from 2015-2017 before he was ultimately traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving.
“You know this is a business,” Earl Watson told me of Thomas while on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“And I think one thing that these teams from both sides to playing and coaching realize is the way that relationships ended; I’m not sure if it ended on the right note. Players have human emotions. And when he sacrificed to play and continued to play on that hip for the Celtics and was not rewarded financially for the right or wrong reasons medically, and if that relationship is not healed, then it becomes a tough conversation to eventually reunite those two businesses together. And that’s what makes the NBA really unique. It’s about relationships. It’s not really about your city or how good your team is. We have a relationship with players to build a sustainable product.”
Celtics or not, Thomas wants to make an NBA return.
A two-time NBA All Star, injuries haven’t been kind to Thomas in the past.
But he still has it.
In 40 games of play for the Washington Wizards last season, Thomas averaged 12.2 points and 3.7 assists.
Million Dollar Question: What team does Thomas fit on?
“Portland,” says Earl Watson.
“Off the bench behind Dame and CJ. And having the ability in the Pacific Northwest and put up buckets in a short amount of minutes, which he’s capable of doing, which allows him to not only continues for him to get healthy and protect his stride of being healthy. But it also gives Portland a scoring punch that I think they desperately need. And when you think about Portland, they have two dominant scorers but they never had a third. And you cannot win in the NBA without a third dominant scorer who can get you from anywhere from 12 to 20 points any given night off the bench. And I learned that from Pop; which is the only reason why he moved [Manu] Ginobili to the bench to have a third dominant scorer at all times.”
GettyIsaiah Thomas with the Celtics in 2017
In addition to playing for the Celtics and Wizards, Thomas has had career stops with the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.
“I would love to see him get an opportunity,” retired NBA legend, Brevin Knight recently shared on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show.
“The injuries derailed his career and if he is feeling back to 100%, then I would like to see him go out in that way. I don’t want to see him go out playing hurt and going from team to team… that’s not the player that he is. I think for him, a fit for him is a team that needs a guy that can come off the bench that is not position specific.”
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