Robb: Isaiah Thomas Believes Trade To Celtics Turned His Career Around
BOSTON (CBS) – It's been a whirlwind 11 months for Isaiah Thomas since his arrival in Boston at the 2015 trade deadline. The Celtics were a struggling rebuilding franchise upon his arrival last February, but it didn't take long for Thomas to see how much he could change the franchise with his scoring prowess.
"The first game when I played against the Lakers probably," explained Thomas when asked about making an impact. "It was weird for the players and the coaching staff to say, 'Just be you. Go out there and make stuff happen.' And it's been like that since Day 1 and they've put me in position to be successful and it's been a good ride. Hopefully I can be here for a while."
The speedy 5-9 point guard has been the catalyst since that time for a surprise playoff berth last season, and an above .500 start to the 2015-16 campaign. Thomas is now in the running for his first career All-Star berth after taking over the starting point guard slot while averaging 21.6 points and 6.7 assists per game.
After facing his former team in Phoenix last night in a 117-104 blowout win at the TD Garden, Thomas reflected on how the trade has changed his outlook.
"It was a blessing in disguise," Thomas said. "It definitely turned my career around. It hurt at first, because I've never been traded, never been in that situation, but it's a better situation for myself here. I'm loved here and people like what I do, and I appreciate that."
Suns coach Jeff Hornacek doesn't think that Thomas could have found a better fit for a team, even though he wishes it could have been with the Suns.
"When a team needs a scorer and a guy that can take it at the end of a game, that fits," he explained. "He's a guy that they can look at and he can get his shot off almost any time he wants. So that's always good to have is a guy that you know is going to get you a shot. It may not go in, or it might go in. But at least he gets you a shot."
Brad Stevens has seen his franchise add more role players around Thomas in the past calendar year, but he's been especially pleased with the growth his point guard has shown while in a Celtic uniform.
"I knew he was small, I knew he was fearless, I knew he was talented," Stevens said of Thomas when he arrived. "I had heard nothing but great things about his work ethic. Right when we got him I heard he was probably a little bit better defending than people had thought. As I watch him now on film vs. our March or April games, he's really improved on that end of the floor. And then he's got real comfortable with his opportunities at the other end for us. He's a dynamic scorer as we all know. But he makes a lot of other plays for us too."
That growth has earned Thomas his goal of being in the starting five for the foreseeable future in Boston.
"Right now he's playing awfully well," Stevens said of Thomas. "It would be (easy) to argue that he should be one of the guys playing the most minutes for us. Whether that means starting or coming off the bench, I haven't put any thought into it because it hasn't crossed my mind."
With Boston finally getting a healthy roster to put alongside the 26-year-old, the future looks brighter than ever for Thomas as he continues to make the most of a great opportunity.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter@CelticsHub.
