Isaiah Thomas says Celtics will need to “bring the Brinks truck’
If the Boston Celtics want to keep Isaiah Thomas after next season, he plans to make them pony up.
The Boston Celtics were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, but they didn’t have enough to take down the Cleveland Cavaliers. Isaiah Thomas took things up a notch too in his second full season with the Celtics, finishing third in the league in scoring during the regular season (28.9 points per game) and fifth in MVP voting.
The Celtics has made significant free agent investments in back-to-back offseasons ,signing Al Horford and Gordon Hayward to max contracts. The signing of Hayward last week led to some shedding of some depth, with Avery Bradly traded to the Pistons and Kelly Olynyk having a restricted free agent offer rescinded.
Thomas has one year left on his contract, a four-year, $27 million pact that has him paid far below other stars, before being set to cash in himself in 2018. He suggested a year ago he was in line for a nice contract, and he recently doubled-down on those words.
"“I’m a max (contract) guy, so I deserve the max,” Thomas told CSN New England on Friday, echoing comments he made a year ago. “We’ve just got to continue to take care of business on the court and let the cards fall where they may. I’m happy for all the guards and all the other guys getting their money, because they deserve it, but my time’s coming.“They know they’ve got to bring the Brinks truck out,” Thomas said with a smile"
On the surface there’s little doubt that Thomas is worthy of a max deal, and he seems committed to staying in Boston. But having three max contact players is a tough proposition, and the Celtics will have to keep getting rid of useful players to make it happen.
Thomas will turn 29 next February, with concerns about his size (5-foot-9) and shortcomings on defense. He missed the end of Boston’s 2017 playoff run due to a strained right hip, and even with surgery deemed unlikely that kind of injury doesn’t always go away quickly.
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The Celtics essentially have to wait and see what Thomas does next season before signing him to a big new contract, and he seems set to let the process play out to next summer. That should work nicely for Danny Ainge, and then we’ll see if Thomas is still clamoring for a “Brinks truck.”