DA Should Trade IT

[Big Baby]

This has nothing to do with his poor play to end the season. I'd love to keep him around as our scoring punch off the bench but DA should look to move him this summer because...

1. He really wants to start. In his mind he's a starter. But he's a liability for us as a starter. The league is filled with high quality PGs who can just back him down and shoot over him. And on offense IT shoots too much to be our starter.

2. Marcus Smart is our future. I'd love to see someone like D'Angelo Russell as Smart's backcourt mate. Or just keep Evan Turner and start him next to Smart next year.

3. IT wants to be the go-to guy. Umm...NO. We need someone who always commands double/triple teams to be our go-to scorer, not some 5'8" chucker who is a huge liability on defense.

4. IT's value has never been higher. DA got him for practically nothing. It's time to sell high if possible.

I'd really like to keep IT as our 6th or 7th man but he will not be content with that role and it will eventually boil over if he sticks around. It's why he left Sacramento and it's what drove Goran Dragic out of Phoenix. Danny should package him with other assets and bring in an impact player we can truly build around. That is unless IT is committed to being our sixth man going forward. Without that assurance, Danny should move him.

[ParticleMan]

not a chance. IT is ainge's guy. and he's on a ridiculously good deal for his production.

everybody wants to start. so what? he's an ideal 6th man, and brad has made that perfectly clear.

not sure what IT4 has to do with smart. they can play together, in fact they are a good pairing. if anyone goes it's turner imo.

IT4, in case you didn't notice, is BY FAR our best shot creator. it's not even close. last night he shot 4-17, missed a lot of shots he normally makes, yet scored 21 points and had 9 assists.

i hate it when people argue "oh a guy won't be happy in a role so we should trade him." WTF?!? he is paid to play basketball and do what the coach tells him. he is under contract. this isn't freaking little league where everyone gets a fair chance. anyways IT doesn't strike me as the sort of guy that would sandbag it if he's not happy. he's not rondo. he is super competitive and a bulldog in a chihuahua's body. he may not love it but he's going to do his thing even if we keep him as a 6th man.

and honestly, i think IT actually cares most about being the guy who handles the ball when he's in there. Brad has given him that freedom. and he is going to play big minutes and often close out games even if he doesn't start. not sure what he has to complain about.

[Kenhov]

Is the world going mad?

IT, a midget spark plug who has been traded twice in one season already should be preserved because he is some kind of cornerstone scorer off the bench?

OP is right. His value will never be higher.

For the right asset it makes perfect sense to trade him else next season when his game wears thin and his lack of versatility becomes clearer we will wish we had.

Ideally I'd like KO, Turner Zeller, IT, Bradley, Pressey, JJ, Datome gone.

All varying degrees of scrubs.

[soxfan2003]

This has nothing to do with his poor play to end the season. I'd love to keep him around as our scoring punch off the bench but DA should look to move him this summer because...

1. He really wants to start. In his mind he's a starter. But he's a liability for us as a starter. The league is filled with high quality PGs who can just back him down and shoot over him. And on offense IT shoots too much to be our starter.

2. Marcus Smart is our future. I'd love to see someone like D'Angelo Russell as Smart's backcourt mate. Or just keep Evan Turner and start him next to Smart next year.

3. IT wants to be the go-to guy. Umm...NO. We need someone who always commands double/triple teams to be our go-to scorer, not some 5'8" chucker who is a huge liability on defense.

4. IT's value has never been higher. DA got him for practically nothing. It's time to sell high if possible.

I'd really like to keep IT as our 6th or 7th man but he will not be content with that role and it will eventually boil over if he sticks around. It's why he left Sacramento and it's what drove Goran Dragic out of Phoenix. Danny should package him with other assets and bring in an impact player we can truly build around. That is unless IT is committed to being our sixth man going forward. Without that assurance, Danny should move him.

IT2 likes to start but not handling the ball more when he was in the game seemed like the bigger issue. Smart isn't a ball dominant guard and neither is Bradley for all of his shot attempts so the Boston guards right now are a better fit for him than what he had in Phoenix.

If Ainge can get a lot more than he paid for IT2, sure he should go but I don't think he can right now.

We have seen IT2 not work that well with Cousins at least from Cousins perspective. That being said, I'd like to see how IT2 works with a typical #1 scorer/star that is a 2 way player. I don't consider Cousins that typical.

If he doesn't work that well under those circumstances such as with a 25 year old Pierce, trade him for whatever you can get. But right now I wouldn't trade him for a pick expected to be in the 20's and I don't think the Celtics could get much more than that.

[Captain_Caveman]

This has nothing to do with his poor play to end the season. I'd love to keep him around as our scoring punch off the bench but DA should look to move him this summer because...

1. He really wants to start. In his mind he's a starter. But he's a liability for us as a starter. The league is filled with high quality PGs who can just back him down and shoot over him. And on offense IT shoots too much to be our starter.

2. Marcus Smart is our future. I'd love to see someone like D'Angelo Russell as Smart's backcourt mate. Or just keep Evan Turner and start him next to Smart next year.

3. IT wants to be the go-to guy. Umm...NO. We need someone who always commands double/triple teams to be our go-to scorer, not some 5'8" chucker who is a huge liability on defense.

4. IT's value has never been higher. DA got him for practically nothing. It's time to sell high if possible.

I'd really like to keep IT as our 6th or 7th man but he will not be content with that role and it will eventually boil over if he sticks around. It's why he left Sacramento and it's what drove Goran Dragic out of Phoenix. Danny should package him with other assets and bring in an impact player we can truly build around. That is unless IT is committed to being our sixth man going forward. Without that assurance, Danny should move him.

Not sure about that, but solid take.

[soxfan2003]

Is the world going mad?

IT, a midget spark plug who has been traded twice in one season already should be preserved because he is some kind of cornerstone scorer off the bench?

OP is right. His value will never be higher.

For the right asset it makes perfect sense to trade him else next season when his game wears thin and his lack of versatility becomes clearer we will wish we had.

Ideally I'd like KO, Turner Zeller, IT, Bradley, Pressey, JJ, Datome gone.

All varying degrees of scrubs.

I agree with a lot of what you say here but do you think his value right now is any higher than it was when Phoenix traded him? He put up better PER stat with Boston than Phoenix but significantly worse Real Plus Minus. He got a lot of positive attention during/before the playoffs but if gm's look at how he did statistically for the entire series it won't be that impressive at all.

I just don't think his value has changed that much at all but I sure hope I'm wrong and he is worth a lot right now and the Celtics can cash in. I just doubt it. I may not think the Phoenix gm is that good at all but I'm sure he had the common sense to trade IT2 to the highest bidder and the bids were not that high despite his impressive stats on offense.

[SichtingLives]

how short sighted. extrapolating the role he had in less than half a season on a team 2 years into a rebuild that is destined to change drastically and we need to get rid of our best offensive player since PP because what? some thoeretical trade value for an unknown player? well let's throw Smart, Sully and Crowder in that deal too. is that how you get better, dump your best young players? good luck but i'm gonna stick with danny on this. hey maybe he can find another 20 ppg bench scorer who knows

[Afam]

I agree. Danny Ainge should trade. Yes IT has heart, but he just too undersized to be a starter in this league. I be in Favor of Danny bringing in Reggie Jackson. I have been impressed with his play this season.

[Afam]

No one is Untradeable on this team. None.

[Big Baby]

how short sighted. extrapolating the role he had in less than half a season on a team 2 years into a rebuild that is destined to change drastically and we need to get rid of our best offensive player since PP because what? some thoeretical trade value for an unknown player? well let's throw Smart, Sully and Crowder in that deal too. is that how you get better, dump your best young players? good luck but i'm gonna stick with danny on this. hey maybe he can find another 20 ppg bench scorer who knows

I'm not saying we should trade him for thd sake of trading him, but DA should at least explore the possibility. His friendly contract makes him very valuable right now. Who knows? He may even raise his value next year. I'd love to see that. But his track record of doing too much at the expense of others makes me think we should trade him while his value is high.

[ermocrate]

IT is a playmaker, not a ballhog, he can either shoot, create his on shot and pass the ball with the same consistency, here when a score takes 10 shots we say is too soft, when he takes responsibilities whe say it's a chucker, take a rest... IT can be either a starting PG or a 6/7th man on a contender, it depends on the personnel you have.

[campybatman]

Or just keep Evan Turner and start him next to Smart next year.

No, I disagree. If Boston wants to develop Smart into a starting point guard, then Turner must be traded because he impeded Smart's development this season. Basically the ball was more in Turner's hands and less in Smart's hands. How's he supposed to learn the position from standing behind the three-point line or as a spectator? In my opinion, Stevens either doesn't trust Smart to run the offense, or he doesn't view him as a point guard. Regardless, Turner and his hero ball act needs to go, not Thomas.

[ParticleMan]

nobody on this roster is untouchable but somebody would have to offer a mid lotto pick to get me interested. or in a package for a true star. so yeah i could see him traded, but only for a waaay higher price than what we got him for.

i just think the logic here is flawed. so what if a guy wants to start, that's no reason to trade him. and he is already our go-to guy when he's in there. also i disagree with the notion that he somehow only looks good at the expense of his teammates, our offense works MUCH better with him in there.

[Gomes3PC]

I'm not shopping him but if a team calls for him I'm not hanging up the phone. He is not a guy who can be a #1/2 or probably even #3 for a champion, and without those pieces who cares if we have a great microwave scorer off the bench?

If trading Thomas nets us a legit shot at getting a true star, I'd happily swap him. If not, keep him as he is worth well more than his contract value, so he will always be an asset on the court and in trade talks.

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

I love this guys heart. It's too easy to root for a guy like that. You stick him in there 10 minutes he assures you 8-10 pts. You stick him in there 20 minutes, your likely getting 15-20 pts. That production on the offensive side doesn't come often. Not to mention that he draws fouls at an insane rate on the other teams big men when going to the hole.

[Ben-N1ce]

I'd trade anybody for the right player but his contract is great value.

[ryaningf]

4. IT's value has never been higher. DA got him for practically nothing. It's time to sell high if possible.

I
OP is right. His value will never be higher.

Everyone's tradeable and IT will get moved at some point for someone better but I disagree vehemently that his value will never be higher. Give him a training camp and a couple months of good health and, assuming he's still our best player and getting all the looks he wants, this kid is going to have a MONSTER year next season, I'm talking AS game, or in the least a 6th Man of the Year award and probably lead this team to 50 wins or more. I know IT's got holes in his game but he still puts up big #s on great efficiency. We still haven't seen his career year IMO.

If I had to predict, Ainge trades him between February-July 2016. IT still has one year left on his bargain contract at that point and he'll be coming off his career year, best time to sell high.

The other reasons given in the OP just don't hold weight on this particular team, as IT's skillset fits our other players very well and we need him taking big shots. He'll be fine coming off the bench as long as we're winning and he's putting up #s and that's exactly what will happen next season.

[Edug27]

I've been obsessed with the Spurs for some time now. So when we traded for him, I stated he could be our rich mans Patty Mills. Come off the bench, get buckets and provide spark. Everyone yelled at me, so I went with the JCrawford/Lou Williams comparison. Which probably fits better I guess. Depends. But either way, hes a bench scorer. When hes hot, keep him in. When hes not, keep him on the bench. Problem is, we have no one better than him in order to keep him on the bench. Hopefully Young becomes that guy. I'm a huge Young fan if you haven't noticed.

I have a friend who is a Kings fan and he hates Boston. So we always argue. When they had IT, I told him that no team can EVER win with IT as their starting PG ... Then the trade happened. Crazy how the tables turn. I still believe that though.

[Gomes3PC]

4. IT's value has never been higher. DA got him for practically nothing. It's time to sell high if possible.

I
OP is right. His value will never be higher.

Everyone's tradeable and IT will get moved at some point for someone better but I disagree vehemently that his value will never be higher. Give him a training camp and a couple months of good health and, assuming he's still our best player and getting all the looks he wants, this kid is going to have a MONSTER year next season, I'm talking AS game, or in the least a 6th Man of the Year award and probably lead this team to 50 wins or more. I know IT's got holes in his game but he still puts up big #s on great efficiency. We still haven't seen his career year IMO.

If I had to predict, Ainge trades him between February-July 2016. IT still has one year left on his bargain contract at that point and he'll be coming off his career year, best time to sell high.

The other reasons given in the OP just don't hold weight on this particular team, as IT's skillset fits our other players very well and we need him taking big shots. He'll be fine coming off the bench as long as we're winning and he's putting up #s and that's exactly what will happen next season.

Yeah I think a year from now his value will peak, as he will have a full year of stats in Stevens' system, hopefully on a 45-50+ win team.

[humblebum]

Yeah... No.