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Isaiah Thomas, like all of us, can’t wait to start the new season. He’s clearly enjoying his offseason, most recently by having fun at his basketball camp. But you can tell he just loves playing basketball and has high hopes for the 2016-17 campaign.
"The NBA knows we're going to be pretty good," Thomas told reporters Saturday morning at his youth basketball camp in Reading, Massachusetts. "Teams know. Everywhere I go, everybody's excited about the Boston Celtics and we're just going to try to take steps forward and continue to work. And I know Brad [Stevens] and the coaching staff are doing everything they can to put us in position to be successful. So we've got to bring it come October."
One big reason for his excitement is new teammate Al Horford.
“It’s only going to help. That’s what we need, other guys that can put the ball in the basket, other guys that can do a variety of different things and he’s one of those guys,” said Thomas, speaking to CSNNE.com at the Isaiah Thomas Basketball Pro Camp at Reading Memorial High School. “The attention will go off me a little bit with having Al Horford on our team. I’m just ready for the opportunity to get to know him and get going and try to get our games to gel with each other.”
Horford is certainly going to make life easier for a lot of people in Celtics green, including Thomas. It won’t necessarily be an immediate transformation, but as everyone learns how to play together, I have a feeling that the Celtics will be clicking pretty early in the season.
Offense may still be an issue for this team, but adding a perennial All-Star like Horford to the mix should ease the burden off of Thomas’s shoulders a little bit. If Marcus Smart and some other guys can step up their offensive games as well, the season should progress even more smoothly.
Can’t wait till October.