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http://www.nba.com/article/2018/02/12/morning-tip-contract-future-isaiah-thomas-los-angeles-lakers-trade-deadline#/

A lot of teams don't want small, ball-dominant point guards who are poor defenders. I think his market may be the mid-level in the new NBA economy, especially when the hip injury is factored in.”

ANONYMOUS NBA EXECUTIVE, ON ISAIAH THOMAS

“No max,” one front office guy said. “I predict he gets something in the neighborhood of 1 + 1 for $10 mil per year.”

Said another: “Depends how he finishes the year. Due to the tight market, would not surprise me to see him at $12-15M or could be as low as a mid-level deal if one of the space teams does not value him.”

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Click on the article link... good read as to what the future may be for IT.

That would explain Cleveland IT.

Yeah, it's nothing personal, but there's no way in hell he's getting anything close to the max. The Celtics had him pegged perfectly, even before he was hurt, and then got bailed out by Kyrie's trade demand before they ever had to make a decision. Regardless of how well he played last season, I still think his ideal role is 25-30 minutes off the bench, where he has plenty of time to make an impact -- the guy's scoring skills cannot be denied -- but not so much that you're totally dependent on him that you can't sit him when teams are just attacking him relentlessly like the Mavericks did the other night. Just don't see him ever accepting that role, at least not in his prime, especially not after what he did last season.

Hmmmm and people want LeBron on this team???

ScHoolBoy B wrote:Hmmmm and people want LeBron on this team???

I don't see the relevance?

Just to follow up, Real Plus-Minus pretty much nails what type of player Isaiah is.

Last year he finished fourth among NBA point guards in offensive RPM, behind only Curry, Harden and Westbrook. That's pretty awesome, especially given the obvious advantages those players have.

On the defense, he not only finished dead last among 76 players who qualified, he finished dead last by roughly half a point per 100 possessions. Translation: He was the worst defensive point guard in the NBA, and it wasn't even close.

Take positions out, and only one player out of 468 who qualified was worse: Doug McDermott.

A team like the Celtics, who are ranked 1st in defensive rating this season, can overcome that because they've got an abundance of good defenders and a good scheme. Although we've been solid on that end this year, we're not on that level, so Thomas' shortcomings are going to be magnified.

We played horribly as a team against the Mavericks, so that wasn't his fault. But you can expect to see plenty of other teams do what they did by attacking him relentlessly.

TyCobb wrote:

ScHoolBoy B wrote:Hmmmm and people want LeBron on this team???

I don't see the relevance?

Im saying look at all the good things he’s saying about our squad. He was obviously miserable in Cleveland and IMO LeBron brigade was a reason why he was so miserable. All I’m saying is maybe we’re better off leaving the LeBron drama alone and let him do his own thing in Cleveland.

Not part of the future, he’s an expring contract that hopefully helps more than hurts the future core. Couldn’t care less about him beyond that.

Sedale Threatt wrote:Just to follow up, Real Plus-Minus pretty much nails what type of player Isaiah is.

Last year he finished fourth among NBA point guards in offensive RPM, behind only Curry, Harden and Westbrook. That's pretty awesome, especially given the obvious advantages those players have.

On the defense, he not only finished dead last among 76 players who qualified, he finished dead last by roughly half a point per 100 possessions. Translation: He was the worst defensive point guard in the NBA, and it wasn't even close.

Take positions out, and only one player out of 468 who qualified was worse: Doug McDermott.

A team like the Celtics, who are ranked 1st in defensive rating this season, can overcome that because they've got an abundance of good defenders and a good scheme. Although we've been solid on that end this year, we're not on that level, so Thomas' shortcomings are going to be magnified.

We played horribly as a team against the Mavericks, so that wasn't his fault. But you can expect to see plenty of other teams do what they did by attacking him relentlessly.

Don't underestimate how adding one bad defensive player can mess up team D, and make those around him look crappy... What I saw in Dallas was a team trying to play with IT rather than IT trying to play with a team... It made our guys look like crap and covered some of his weeknesses...

Only way this works is if we do our thing and demand IT figure it out... Meaning bench his ass until he does... I still think he should be our Lou Williams...

ScHoolBoy B wrote:

TyCobb wrote:

ScHoolBoy B wrote:Hmmmm and people want LeBron on this team???

I don't see the relevance?

Im saying look at all the good things he’s saying about our squad. He was obviously miserable in Cleveland and IMO LeBron brigade was a reason why he was so miserable. All I’m saying is maybe we’re better off leaving the LeBron drama alone and let him do his own thing in Cleveland.

It's easy to compliment something that is deserving. While they are nice things to say, what matters is execution on the court. He simply can only play offense, but his ego will land him in another city. He should be a 6th man, but won't accept it. He should be a Lou Will contract player, but will demand more.

Kilroy wrote:

Sedale Threatt wrote:Just to follow up, Real Plus-Minus pretty much nails what type of player Isaiah is.

Last year he finished fourth among NBA point guards in offensive RPM, behind only Curry, Harden and Westbrook. That's pretty awesome, especially given the obvious advantages those players have.

On the defense, he not only finished dead last among 76 players who qualified, he finished dead last by roughly half a point per 100 possessions. Translation: He was the worst defensive point guard in the NBA, and it wasn't even close.

Take positions out, and only one player out of 468 who qualified was worse: Doug McDermott.

A team like the Celtics, who are ranked 1st in defensive rating this season, can overcome that because they've got an abundance of good defenders and a good scheme. Although we've been solid on that end this year, we're not on that level, so Thomas' shortcomings are going to be magnified.

We played horribly as a team against the Mavericks, so that wasn't his fault. But you can expect to see plenty of other teams do what they did by attacking him relentlessly.

Don't underestimate how adding one bad defensive player can mess up team D, and make those around him look crappy... What I saw in Dallas was a team trying to play with IT rather than IT trying to play with a team... It made our guys look like crap and covered some of his weeknesses...

Only way this works is if we do our thing and demand IT figure it out... Meaning bench his ass until he does... I still think he should be our Lou Williams...

For sure. I don't think it's an accident that the Celtics have gone from 12th or 13th in defense to 1st now that he's gone. His impact on our defense bears watching as we don't have a lot of margin for error, especially with Ball out.

At this point I don't think it's a matter of figuring it out. People say that defense comes down to effort, and while there might be some truth to that, it also helps to have some tools: Size, strength, wingspan, This is just what Thomas is as a player: He's tiny, not especially athletic, and doesn't seem to have much in the way of instincts.

While I don't think he flat-out loafs like James Harden -- maybe he does, just haven't seen him enough to make that determination -- he certainly isn't a pugnacious little bastard like Chris Paul, who isn't going to back down under any circumstances. Isaiah has a lot of heart, but it definitely doesn't manifest itself on that end.

He's got what amounts to a physical handicap on Defense to start with due to his size, so in order to be good, he'd have to work harder than almost anyone else and really understand the game...

My take on IT is all he knows about the game is Scoring and all he's willing to put effort into is offense... If that's the case he's never going to be a decent defender in the NBA due to his size.

MDA might could use him, but I'm with Doc and Ty... He's got no future with this team, and honestly isn't even worth worrying about...

The defensive execution is going to suffer, but i’m hopeful that having IT out there is going force everyone to develop an even greater level of attentiveness and communication.

Til now they basically just switch everything, and that doesn’t require tue same level of communication in comparison to having to constantly readjust and switch off the ball to recover and not leave IT on an island.

Like Goku training in the gravity chamber under increased levels of stress. Once the team escapes the gravity chamber like contribution that is IT’s defense, they’ll be that much better.

Kilroy wrote:He's got what amounts to a physical handicap on Defense to start with due to his size, so in order to be good, he'd have to work harder than almost anyone else and really understand the game...

My take on IT is all he knows about the game is Scoring and all he's willing to put effort into is offense... If that's the case he's never going to be a decent defender in the NBA due to his size.

MDA might could use him, but I'm with Doc and Ty... He's got no future with this team, and honestly isn't even worth worrying about...

Oh yeah, he's gone for sure. Not that it matters, we've just been playing pretty well for the last month or so, and I'd like to see us be able to integrate him well enough that it continues. That's my only thought at the moment.

I hope for the absolute best for him and I hope it's in a Lakers jersey.

From all accounts, he's a great guy. He sounds like a great Dad. It's almost impossible to get to the NBA, its even more impossible to get to the NBA at the size he is.

He'll be here in the future if the following happens:

- He plays well, with a good attitude in whatever role he's in.
- LeBron James doesn't come here.
- Agrees to a short term, prove it type of deal.

On the court, he's going to provide a lot of things offensively that this team needs. I think he'll be a huge help and a huge compliment to the things that Lonzo doesn't do well. All the good we talked about that Russell was going to provide, he can do. He's great in the pick and roll and he can create offence in the half court.

Defensively, it's not going to be sunshine and rainbows and I understand that. Others should too. Unfortunately, his physical limitations are what they are. It's up to Luke and the coaching staff to hold him accountable on that end and also scheme things in a way where it's not a nightmare. Because if he can get by on that end, we'll be a much better team for it with all that he brings offensively.

I know going forward, I would like to see a line-up of Thomas/Ball/Hart/Ingram/Randle quite often. Surround Isaiah with a bunch of defensive pitbulls that can space the floor and make plays. Randle, when engaged (and he has been for the last month) can set hard screens and he's probably the best roller off pick & rolls in the league. And I know that line-up doesn't include Kuzma, but if we're b***hing about Isaiah on D, we better start doing it about Kuzma as well. He was a trash can on Saturday on that end of the floor and he has no reason to be that bad other than the fact he's a rookie. He's in shape with an NBA ready body and 3 years of college experience to go with it. I don't think you can have Isaiah and Kuzma on the floor and be a productive NBA defence.

dockingsched wrote:Like Goku training in the gravity chamber under increased levels of stress. Once the team escapes the gravity chamber like contribution that is IT’s defense, they’ll be that much better.

deep

Don't worry TY ... You'll start loving him once he wins us a few games here and there.

IN B4 - TY says "I love this kid "

Won't happen, unless he comes off the bench and is happy with 23 minutes per game.

dockingsched wrote:Not part of the future, he’s an expring contract that hopefully helps more than hurts the future core. Couldn’t care less about him beyond that.

yep.. I'll go as far as saying if he is on the roster next year the FO fell flat on their face in the offseason