It’s easy to understand why Isaiah Thomas took some time to digest last week’s deal that sent him to the Cavaliers. He had been the Celtics’ brightest light in the last two and a half years, and particularly through the 2016-2017 season that saw the franchise claim the top seed in the East and reach the conference finals. And as trying as the campaign was for him both on and off the court, he endeavored to leave nothing in the tank; lost teeth, the death of a loved one, a major hip injury — all these, and more, he viewed as obstacles to be hurdled in order to further the cause of the green and white. And in the end, his reward was to become trade bait for a fellow All-Star whose numbers approximated his own, but three summers younger, six inches taller, and signed on to a contract for a year longer.
Not that the Celtics didn’t appreciate Thomas’ efforts. On the contrary, they understood that without his unique combine of grit and talent, they wouldn’t have been ahead of the curve; perhaps they would even have been behind it in his absence. Yet, in Celtics head of hoops operations Danny Ainge’s eyes, it’s precisely because of the progress the Most Valuable Player candidate engendered that the swap with the Cavaliers had to be made. It was time for the franchise to take the next step, even if it meant breaking the bank, and, more significantly, even if it meant looking insensitive and detached.
Needless to say, the National Basketball Association is first and foremost a business, and Thomas is no fool not to understand his place in it. In fact, the very same reality had him proclaiming in the midst of his transcendent play that when free agency for him comes in 2018, he would be seeking no less than a max deal. Perhaps he was only half joking, but such proclamations no doubt caught the attention of Ainge, who then acted accordingly. The Celtics overachieved under head coach Brad Stevens, but had reached a ceiling and therefore required deconstruction and reassembly. The subsequent exit of all but four players on the roster that came to within three games of the 2017 Finals was prompted as much by necessity as by a willingness to tinker for the better.
For the Cavaliers, the good news is that Thomas accepted his fate as soon as the trade became formal late last week. He was spotted in his Washington hometown sporting his new team’s gear, and the degree with which his convalescence has been questioned will certainly fuel his competitiveness. Which is to say they’re set for the near and medium terms. He’ll be good to go soon enough, and darned if he won’t relish playing alongside LeBron James the way Kyrie Irving, his Celtics successor, once did, and then didn’t. There are clearly worse ways for him to get over the past than to look forward to vying for a championship and, en route, spiting the team he literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
