Basketball is a business. Yes, I know it sounds like I’m regurgitating a tired basketball cliche but hear me out. At the time of this writing the Boston Celtics are 52-29, 1 game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 1 seed; something I absolutely did not see coming. Isaiah Thomas, traded to Boston from Phoenix, has quickly ascended to lead dawg and go-to, crunch-time scorer for the C’s, while subsequently picking up an awesome nickname; “King of the Fourth.” He’s a large reason as to why Boston leads the league in 4th quarter points per game averaging 27.9 points. Everything sounds great in Beantown right? Well, for the foreseeable future this assumption is correct. Especially because they own the Brooklyn Nets 2017 and 2018 1st round picks. In case you were wondering, the Nets sit at a league worst 20-61. This boneheaded decision by Brooklyn is made worse by the fact 2017 is shaping up to be a loaded draft class, led by a pair of Pac-12 Guards; Markelle Fultz (UW) and Lonzo Ball (UCLA). Brooklyn has already locked up the worst record (sadly they cannot be relegated), which means Boston has a 25% chance at winning the NBA Draft Lottery and a 46.5% chance at landing a top-2 selection. This is where the dilemma begins.

Both Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball are projected as Point Guards in the pros, awkwardly, the same position Isaiah Thomas currently fills on the 52-29 Celtics. Now, Brad Stevens is a basketball genius who took Butler to back-to-back NCAA title game and is the front-runner for Coach of the Year. Maybe his basketball ingenuity will drive him to figure out a system or rotation in which IT can coexist with either one, but I reserve a high level of skepticism towards such a scenario. The biggest problem I can foresee is roster depth. Before the draft (June 22nd) and free agency begin (July 1st) GM and C’s legend, Danny Ainge, has a stacked roster that he must refine depending on how far Boston goes in the upcoming NBA playoffs. Their roster includes young talent (Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Demetrious Jackson) mixed with established, veteran talent (IT, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, Al Horford) and, let’s not forget the guys they “stashed” in Europe (Guerschon Yabusele, Ante Zizic). That is 10 solid players, who all need minutes, vying for 240 minutes of action per game BEFORE they add a high draft pick/s and potentially spend some money in free agency (I’m looking at you Gordon Hayward). Now that we have established playing time as an issue, let’s check in on the business end.

Want to hear something crazy? Isaiah Thomas is in the midst of a 4-year, $27 million dollar deal. That means he only averages $6,750,000 per season. Here are a few players who average more money than IT; Detroit’s Boban Marjanovic ($7,000,000), Philadelphia’s Jerryd Bayless ($9,000,000), Brooklyn’s Jeremy Lin ($12,766,667), and Portland’s Allen Crabbe ($18,708,125). I’m not slamming any of these dudes just because they average more money than IT but I would certainly take The King of the North over any of the afore mentioned players, as well as a large percentage of the total NBA population. IT’s next contract is going to be fascinating. He’s set to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2018 and will be asking for close to, if not the full, maximum salary. I do not know the specific number (I need to be in the CBA class with Magic and Rob Pelinka) but Bill Simmons said on his podcast somewhere between 35-40 million per season. Yes, you read that right. IT is in line to make somewhere between 35-40 MILLION DOLLARS PER SEASON! This is where my personal quandary begins.

I have a special attachment to Isaiah Thomas because he was the local basketball star anyone talked about while I was in high school, I also beat him 3-on-3 at a local YMCA but that is a story for another day. It’s been an absolute blast watching the 5’9″ scoring dynamo conquer high school, the Pac-12 at Washington and now the NBA. His 51-point explosion for Curtis in the state semi-finals and “cold-blooded” shot against Arizona in the Pac-12 championship will forever live in my memory. His ability to consistently get to/make shots at the rim all while being the smallest player on the court 99% of the time is mesmerizing. Which is why it sucked to hear Bill Simmons, an ardent Celtics fan, say he would trade IT this off-season before Boston has to pay him. This is the same Isaiah Thomas who is tied with James Harden for 2nd leading scorer in the NBA, averaging 29.1 PPG; has been a major factor in the Celtics ascension of the Eastern Conference and should finish top-5 in a crazy competitive MVP race. Sure, I understand the realities of IT’s limitations; his size is going to be an issue in the playoffs when teams post him up, he needs the ball in his hands, and he’s a volume scorer in a PG’s body, but damn, the man is almost averaging 30 points a night! What more does he need to do to prove himself? The worst thing about this conundrum is I totally see the reasoning behind Bill’s thinking. Who wants to pay a 5’9″ PG 35-40 million dollars per year into his early-mid 30’s? Plus, are the Celtics really going to challenge LeBron for the East crown in the next couple of seasons? Probably not. Which is why it is pragmatic for GM Danny Ainge to keep building around his young talent and forgo paying Isaiah Thomas. This isn’t an indictment on IT’s skills, it’s just the two timelines don’t sync up. Don’t worry though, some team will give IT the life-changing money he deserves.