Boston Celtics: Isaiah Thomas Deserves All-Star Recognition
It’s early, but Isaiah Thomas has made one thing clear since joining the Boston Celtics: he deserves to be an All-Star.
The Boston Celtics are the very embodiment of what it means to be a blue-collar team. They fight to win every possession, work with a relentless motor, and win games on the strength of their collective energy.
If any one player can be targeted as the source of Boston’s success, however, it’s undoubtedly Isaiah Thomas.
Thomas is averaging 21 points, 6.3 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 2.2 3-point field goals made in 31.1 minutes played per game. The 5’9″ offensive dynamo has started 18 of 21 outings for the Celtics, picking up the slack for an injured Marcus Smart.
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Whether he’s coming off of the bench or opening games in the starting lineup, one thing has become abundantly clear: Thomas is the player who makes Boston go.
Thomas leaves something to be desired on defense, but this isn’t a case of the confusing definition of stardom. Thomas may not offer much defensively, but his value is spread throughout multiple channels on offense, and is vital to the team’s identity.
It may be early, but if the past two seasons have proven anything, it’s that Thomas deserves All-Star recognition for his contributions to the Celtics.
How He Ranks
Isaiah Thomas is No. 17 in the NBA in points per game, No. 14 in assists, No. 15 in 3-point field goals made and No. 20 in steals per game. He’s also No. 12 in assist percentage, which measures the number of plays a player assists when they’re on the floor.
Throw in ranks of No. 15 in Usage Rate and offensive win shares, and No. 19 in average plus/minus, and Thomas has been one of the NBA’s most valuable players.
Strictly looking at players in the Eastern Conference, as the All-Star voters will do, Thomas is No. 6 in both points and assists per game. Based in per contest averages, he’s No. 11 in 3-point field goals and No. 12 in steals.
In the advanced metrics, Thomas ranks at No. 5 in average plus/minus and assist percentage, No. 6 in usage rate and No. 5 in offensive win shares amongst Eastern Conference players.
Translation: Thomas rates among the five to 10 most offensively productive and heavily utilized players in his conference—and he’s doing so on a winning team.
Value – The Basics
The Boston Celtics made the playoffs in 2014-15, are 12-9 in 2015-16 and have Isaiah Thomas to thank for both of those facts. Not only has Thomas’ arrival brought attention to how good a player he truly is, but it’s resurrected the Celtics.
The value can be seen with a brief look at the basic numbers.
In 2015-16, Thomas leads the Celtics in both points and assists per game. He’s also No. 1 on the roster in usage rate, average plus/minus, Player Impact Estimate, Player Efficiency Rating, turnover ratio and assist percentage.
Coupled with his 21 points scored per contest, Thomas is also creating a team-high 15.3 points via his average of 6.3 assists.
Those 36.3 points per game account for 35.2 percent of the Celtics’ scoring average as a team—a very high number for a team that ranks No. 6 in scoring offense.
The advanced metrics tell a deeper story, but the basic numbers alone should illustrate how important Thomas is to Boston’s success. No other player on the roster is averaging more than 3.5 assists per game, and only Avery Bradley is posting more than Jae Crowder‘s 12.2 points per contest.
Boston has remarkable depth and balance, but the numbers tell an accurate story: Thomas is the only individual on Boston’s roster who’s consistently creating offense for both himself and others.
Value – Advanced
According to NBA.com, the Celtics have an average plus/minus of plus-5.8 when Thomas is on the floor. By comparison, Boston’s average margin of victory in 2015-16 has been 5.4 points per game.
Basic math states that Boston is outscoring opponents by 5.8 points per game with Thomas on the floor. It’s also being outscored by 0.4 points when he isn’t.
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but that’s the difference between winning and losing games.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, the Celtics boast a net rating of plus-6.4 when Thomas is on the floor and plus-1.5 when he isn’t. The defense is significantly better without him, but the offense experiences an even more measurable collapse.
Boston has an offensive rating of 108.0 with Thomas on the floor and 96.7 when he isn’t—a difference of 11.3 points per 100 possessions.
For a team that’s 12-9, top 10 in points per game, and coming off of a postseason appearance in 2014-15, that number suggests All-Star value. It’s not as though Thomas is thriving on a bad team, either; he’s leading a genuine postseason contender.
Factoring in his being acquired at the trade deadline, Boston went 14-7 in 21 games with Thomas and 26-35 in the 61 games it played without him in 2014-15. That statistic helps to validate the legitimacy of this year’s numbers.
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Thomas has star-caliber statistics and is the catalyst for a team that not only made the playoffs last season, but is no pace to do so again in 2015-16. It’s very early, but that warrants All-Star hype.
Assuming he maintains his current rate of play—which has carried over from a previous season, thus suggesting he will—Thomas deserves to receive his due this coming February.