Every NBA team’s MVP, from Kevin Durant to LeBron James
By Tom West
Boston Celtics: Isaiah Thomas
It’s hard to pick an MVP when it comes to this year’s Celtics. They may not have the best record at 12-9, but for a team with no star players who rely on ball movement and defense instead, they’ve been pretty impressive this season. For a team with that style, though, it’s hard to find a standout who’s more valuable to the organization than anyone else. However, if one guy has to be chosen, Isaiah Thomas is a worthy pick.
At 5’9″, Thomas is always slightly underrated due to being one of the smallest guards in recent NBA history. He just flies under the radar for most people in comparison to all the explosive 6’4″ point guards in the league right now, and even though he almost became Sixth Man of the Year last season he doesn’t normally receive much acknowledgement for his performance. This season he’s been impressive yet again, though.
He’s a fairly streaky shooter, but a 43.1 field goal percentage and 34.1 percent three point shot isn’t too bad from Thomas, even if those numbers would ideally be a touch higher. That being said, the Celtics couldn’t ask for much more than his career-highs in 21 points and 6.3 assists per game. And as a 5’9″ guard, he does well to create space and shots for himself when he’s towered over by most defenders, especially with his surprising ability to attack the paint, too.
Thomas is obviously far from being a formidable defender, especially when opponents approach the paint, but he’s at least a pesky threat on the perimeter with his 1.7 steals per game. More to the point, he makes up for that with his offensive input on a Celtics team that lacks any consistent frontcourt scoring and no players who can create offense on a consistent basis. Thomas leads the team in points per game, assists per game, offensive win shares (by a long way), and player efficiency rating with 22.9 (also by a long way).
The Celtics rank 3rd in the NBA in defensive efficiency and only 15th in offensive efficiency, so the input of Thomas really makes him their standout player at that end of the floor.
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