BOSTON – It’s way too soon for a decision to be made on whether Isaiah Thomas will be in the Celtics' starting lineup.
Still, it has been a topic of discussion among the coaching staff and the front office and could potentially become an issue all season.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, speaking on 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich Show, acknowledged that he and coach Brad Stevens have had conversations about whether Thomas should start or not.
“That’s Brad’s call. Brad and I have talked about it … but ultimately that would be Brad’s decision,” Ainge said.
Thomas, acquired by Boston at the February trade deadline from Phoenix, made an immediate impact and established himself as the Celtics’ best scorer. In 21 games for Boston, Thomas led the Celtics in scoring with at 19.0 points per game without a single start. He also averaged 5.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds for Boston.
He was runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award.
Ainge said the decision on whether to start the 5-foot-9 guard comes down to one thing.
“We just want to, our objective is to win,” Ainge said. “Isaiah is a very unique player in that he’s our best scorer; he’s our most efficient scorer. He has to expend a lot of energy to score. His size defensively sometimes can be a challenge, but he’s such a dynamic and exciting player, we want to make sure that we have him at his best for 100 games.”
Last season with the Celtics was Thomas’ first trip to the playoffs. And like most of his teammates, Thomas struggled to make an impact.
He longed to play more minutes down the stretch, and was given that opportunity in the playoffs, averaging 29.8 minutes per game in the postseason, compared to 26.0 minutes in the regular season.
But his scoring average dipped to 17.5 points per game, a direct result of him shooting just 33.3 percent from the field and a woeful 16.7 percent on 3s.
There’s a legit concern that starting him would result in him playing more minutes which may not necessarily be the best thing for him or the Celtics.
“Those are reasons to not start him, and there are reasons to start him because he is our most efficient scorer,” Ainge said. “So it’s not anything easy. Those are decisions that will be ironed out through training camp and exhibition season, and maybe even change throughout the course of the year.”