Quote (Sixers @ Aug 23 2017 06:18pm)
[URL=https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/8/23/16189638/isaiah-thomas-trade-cleveland-cavaliers-win]https://www.theringer.com/nba/2017/8/23/16189638/isaiah-thomas-trade-cleveland-cavaliers-win[/URL]
Cleveland can plug Thomas into Irving’s role without missing a beat. He was a better version of Kyrie last year, at least in the regular season. They are both ball-dominant point guards who can score at will but struggle on defense. The difference is Thomas scored more often and more efficiently, despite playing with significantly worse teammates:
Defenses sold out to stop Thomas, double-teaming and shadowing him all over the court, knowing guys like Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Crowder couldn’t consistently punish them when left open. Thomas had a prime Allen Iverson season, but better, carrying a team full of role players to the no. 1 seed in the East. The Celtics were tied with the Warriors for the best offensive rating in the NBA (113.6) when Thomas was in, and they were dead last (99.0) when he was out. It was the exact opposite of the situation in Cleveland, where Kyrie got to play off one of the best players of all time. You can see the difference in the way the two point guards were guarded by the types of shots they took, per the tracking numbers at NBA.com
Isaiah may not even be healthy/ready to start the season... lol
Quote
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens didn’t sound as optimistic on Monday when he joined Chris Mannix on The Vertical’s podcast. Stevens said Thomas’ hip will be evaluated in September, which is when the team will make a decision on the next step for the point guard.
“We still don’t know. He has another follow-up and another scan in the early part of September when he arrives back here out east. From there we will know an exact timeline,” Stevens said. “Obviously, it’s been a lot of appropriate rest, a lot of rehab. There have been some good strides here certainly in the last month or few weeks, but we’re not going to know that until after that early September time frame.