FanPost

Why the Celtics need to consider trading Isaiah now... Yes, I said it...

In order to maximize the value we get from the assets we need to upgrade periodically as they have done in the past by taking players in at a low cost and sending them out as parts of other transactions.

So, if anyone believes in ever trading 2 players for 1 or 3 for one, the Celtics must be willing to part with guys that we like... even guys we like a lot. It makes no sense to trade guys further down the roster as we won’t get much back at this point for guys like Terry Rozier and RJ and the like (I like all the Celtics players). Those players are much more valuable to the Celtics as they are fully bought into how Brad Stevens wants to play and don’t yet have much trade value for other teams.

So, why trade Isaiah now? Here’s why:

His next contract. Is he worth max money? He WILL want max money. He’s an all-star now, he’s tweeted his envy of other (lesser) players signing bigger contracts, he’s getting advice from Floyd Mayweather (who has to be saying ‘get all you can’-and its hard to fault any pro athlete for doing so).

His defense (although improved) is below what it needs to be to be one of the best players on a team trying to build a team around defensive DNA. He’s tabbed himself "Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime". Sorry, but, Griffey Jr. along with his bat and ability to run, was AN ABSOLUTE BALLER on defense. In my view Isaiah is more like Barry Sanders. Offensive weapon with low center of gravity. A max money guy in basketball needs to be great on both ends of the court.

His ego. While his ego has undoubtedly served him very well, getting him to where he is now, its grown too much and I feel like I see the beginning of it negatively impacting the C’s. I’ve watched a lot of Celtics basketball of the past 2 seasons and Isaiah seemed most impactful when he was coming off the bench last year. His outspoken desire to be a starter I believe did influence Brad Stevens and it seemed like the best option to go with it to keep the ship moving in the right direction. He didn’t change the slow starts as he thought he would be able to, but, still being the best player (as public opinion often erroneously tabs the teams leading scorer as its best player) he was outspoken about wanting to start-very subtly suggesting to the coaching staff that they may have an unhappy "star" on their team if he’s not starting, or if they switched him back to a bench role once he did begin starting.

He talked repeatedly about wanting to be an all-star. Why? Ego. Let your play make you an all-star. What other Celtics all star has ever lobbied so hard for that? He is very media savvy and has worked the regular media and social media very well to HIS advantage. He does not strike me as a team first kind of guy. Sorry, he just doesn’t. Compare that to guys like Evan Turner and Avery Bradley... or basically any other Celtic player and he stands alone in that.

He wants to play hero ball in the post season. He’s stated on many occasions that the great players make their mark in the post season. In the regular season he averaged 16.9 field goal attempts per game. In the Atlanta series, he had 4 games where he shot: 21, 23, 24 and 24 shots. That 25% of all Celtics shots in those games. Not to mention the attempts he gets fouled on don’t count as shot attempts. The Celtics led the league in field goal attempts per game this year at 89.2. That is no accident. They work hard on D to get more shots on O. Thats the whole idea for this team. Isaiah, being a skilled scorer is fully taking advantage of that. On a team that has better scoring options (which the C’s will have in time-and they can trade him now for one...) His stats wouldn’t be so glamorous, he wouldn’t be considered an all-star. His value is highest now. I can recall in the Atlanta series there were 4 Hawks in the paint and no Celtics... Isaiah jumped right into the middle of them and forced up a shot... a bad shot. Move the ball to the open guy. Brad continually stresses making the right basketball decisions. That went out the window in the post season with Isaiah. That is essentially telling his teammates that he doesn’t trust them. What makes Boston a good team is ball movement and having to respect every player on the court as a threat. AB, Jae, Amir, ET, Sully, KO, and Tyler ALL had higher field goal percentages that IT during the regular season... He needed to leverage his ability to draw attention from the defense to get his teammates more open shots. By taking upon himself, he perhaps inadvertantly lowered the confidence of his teammates. In a game that every point and bucket counts this is huge. We need a point guard that lifts his teammates up on offense and is more skilled on defense.

Talking out both sides of his mouth. Here’s an Isaiah quote from a recent Chris Forsberg article:

"I do think we need that next star and that guy that can we depend on. Not to sound cocky, but not just myself. We need another option. Like I said, I go to the war with the fellas I have in that [Celtics] locker room right now and I love all those guys, but we do need a little more."

You can’t have it both ways... I know, most people agree that thE C’s need more firepower, but, who else on the Celtics team is talking like this. He’s putting himself WAY above everyone else, and I just don’t think he’s that much better. Also, Isaiah, there are ALWAYS 4 other options on the court with you at ANY GIVEN TIME!

Did anyone else notice near the end of the last Atlanta game, there were two times players were inbounding the ball after Atlanta scores.. with no pressure from Atlanta, the Boston players bypassed tossing the ball to Isaiah who was the obvious person to pass to 10 feet away, in favor of passing the ball 25 feet away to apparently let someone else touch the ball... Maybe I’m reading too much into it... but, I would find his behavior off-putting as a teammate.

I could go on and on here... like his letter in Player Forum, suggesting that Brad enables them to "play free". That’s BS. Brad posted 5 principles in the locker room for the team to follow. He doesn’t seem to follow any of them. "Playing Free" would sound appealing to any multi-millionaire who wants to do his own thing, rather than follow the direction of someone else. Brad and his teammates and certainly Isaiah, work hard on timing in practice to run plays during the game... He seems to want to play isolation ball or just put up any shot he wants whenever he wants. THAT what playing free seems to be to Isaiah, rather than the post time-out calls that Brad is becoming more and more know for.

So, Philly needs a PG. Put Isaiah and Jae on the block as part of a deal to try to get Ben Simmons who is not the defensive liability Isaiah is and who WILL lift up his teammates! Isaiah may not be the PG they want, but, they can have the 3 pick and take Dunn, and or trade Isaiah and all the other assets we can overwhelm them with to trade another team for the PG of their choice.

Thanks for reading. I’m curious what you all think...


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