addByline("Taylor C. Snow", "Celtics.com", "taylorcsnow");
BOSTON – Isaiah Thomas has blossomed into one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA during the last two years with the Boston Celtics. Which begs the critical question from many fans: “How could teams like Sacramento and Phoenix let a guy like that go? How could those franchises not see him developing into the star that he has become?”
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, whose team will take on Thomas and the C’s Monday night, has a different opinion on the matter.
“Sometimes guys aren’t ready, and I think this thing we sometimes discount is the changing (of) teams is what helps guys,” Van Gundy said Monday afternoon following Detroit’s shootaround. “Not only they may get to a system that fits them better, but also, at times – and I’m not saying this about Isaiah because I don’t know him at all, and I’ve always thought he was really good in Sacramento, Phoenix and everything else – but I think sometimes a guy changes teams and it wakes them up a little bit.”
Thomas averaged 15.3 points and 4.8 assists per game during his first three seasons with the Kings before they signed and traded him to the Suns in exchange for Alex Oriakhi and a trade exception. He then spent half a season in Phoenix, where he averaged 15.2 PPG and 3.7 APG before he was traded to the Celtics for Marcus Thornton and a first-round draft pick.
IT has certainly “woken up” since coming to Boston. He’s averaged 23.8 PPG and 6.1 APG during two-plus seasons with the C’s, and at this moment possesses the second-highest scoring average in the NBA at 29.1 PPG.
Thomas is not the first player who has flourished after bouncing around the league a bit. Van Gundy cited Kyle Lowry and Chauncey Billups as other examples of players who bloomed into stars, but only after making a few stops along the way.
“I think people assume all the time, ‘Well if you would’ve just waited on Kyle Lowry, he would be the Kyle Lowry he is now, or the Isaiah Thomas he is now,’” said Van Gundy. “And maybe that’s true, but maybe it’s not. Maybe Chauncey Billups doesn’t become Chauncey Billups without bouncing around.
“So I guess sometimes that can be faulty thinking; that just because a guy has gone and done it somewhere else, that had he just stayed for years and years and years in one place (it doesn’t mean) the same thing would’ve happened.”
Lowry went from Memphis, to Houston and then to Toronto before he developed into an All-Star point guard for the Raptors. Billups traveled from Boston, to Toronto, to Denver, to Minnesota and then to Detroit before he suddenly prospered and became a five-time All-Star.
Van Gundy believes all of those moves motivate players like Billups, Lowry and Thomas because they might think, “Maybe I’ve got to do a little bit more.” And, “’Why aren’t I more appreciated?”
Thomas always talks about the chips on his shoulder: The one on the left was formed by those who doubted him because of his lack of height; and the one on the right that materialized during the 2011 NBA Draft he was passed on 59 times before Sacramento selected him with the 60th and final pick.
Perhaps Thomas has another chip that was formed by the fact that two teams parted ways with him early in his career. Maybe, like Van Gundy alluded to, IT felt under-appreciated by his former squads and felt that he needed to prove himself on the court so that his next team wouldn’t let him slip away.
Thomas has certainly done that in Boston. He’s revitalized the Celtics with his endless energy and his high volume scoring, and he’s gained ultimate appreciation from the organization and its fans in doing so.