The Boston Celtics have a great point guard in Isaiah Thomas. But is he one of the NBA’s best?
The Eastern Conference bounced back last year in terms of intrigue. Aside from the Cleveland Cavaliers, we saw teams like the Boston Celtics take a gigantic leap in the standings and in form.
The C’s, who were two years removed from trading their best player in Rajon Rondo, were not expected to be players in the Eastern Conference. With a new coach in Brad Stevens, another season of growing pains was expected.
Boston had some good pieces but they just needed a guy who can take defenders on and carry the load offensively. Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley were solid defensively and were Boston’s go-to stoppers, but were not consistent enough on the offensive end. They needed a scorer.
Danny Ainge and the front office went out at the trade deadline and got that. The Celtics acquired point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Marcus Thornton and a first round pick.
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Thomas made an immediate impact for the Celtics in his debut a couple of days later. He dropped 21 points coming off the bench and became the Celtics’ sixth man. He averaged 19.0 points and 5.0 assists per game that season and was the runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Thomas was given the starting role the next season and in his second season was where he truly flourished for Boston. Thomas had a career year, averaging a career-high 22.2 points per game along with 6.2 assists while shooting 42.8 percent from the field. He played all 82 games for the first time in his career and proved that he can be a key piece of the Celtics moving forward.
But there has always been an interesting debate about where Thomas fits in with the rest of the point guards in the league. Like all the elite point guards in the NBA, Thomas has to bring it on the both ends of the court.
At 5’9″, Thomas is nowhere near the ideal height for a point guard. On defense, he could be seen as a liability due the fact that he can’t contest as well on jumpers.
His rebounding can be a problem as well. Although Thomas averaged 3.0 rebounds per game, his size makes it hard for him to grab boards and it could be costly in situations. In situations when the Celtics are forced to switch and Thomas is forced to guard a big man, the opponent could just feed him into the post and use the size advantage. On rebounds when the switch is still there, Thomas has a sure disadvantage.
Thomas does a good job of staying in front of his man and uses his feet well to maintain good form. But contesting shots and rebounding are where he struggles the most and that’s due to his size. Sadly those two things are key to any defender.
Offensively, however, Thomas is right up there with the best. His 22.0 points per game ranked fourth highest among point guards, beating out the likes of Kyle Lowry, John Wall and Chris Paul. His field goal percentage was also among the top 20 and his free throw percentage was in the top five as well.
Thomas proved to be a threat off the pick and roll, scoring 0.86 points per possession and placing in the 73rd percentile among ball handlers coming off the pick and roll. He can use his size to get behind the screen man and lose his defender, which is a big man if a switch happens. He can pull up from anywhere and his shooting ability, especially over bigger defenders, is very impressive. His handles and low gravity help him change direction quickly and lose his defender. If you give him space on a jump shot, he will make you pay.
His small size also works when he is in the paint and can split defenders and finish near the rim. He is capable of finishing with both hands, and 65.2 percent of Thomas’s points came off drives while averaging 11.7 of them per game.
That leads to the question of calling Isaiah Thomas an elite point guard. The stats are there but there is just something off about calling him an elite point guard. It’s time we start to change that. Thomas is on the track to become one of the best smaller guards we have seen in NBA history. He was the last pick of the draft back in 2011 and his rise has been memorable.
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His defense is getting better and if he continues to be an elite offensive threat, people will be calling him elite as early as this season. But Isaiah Thomas just has to prove it once again.