Former Celtic Isaiah Thomas pleads his case for Boston reunion this season
“My leadership alone would put this team over the hump!”
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Isaiah Thomas has been out of the NBA since the 2021-22 season. He last played for the Hornets after logging minutes with the Lakers and Mavericks that same season.
Now, he’s making an argument for the Celtics to sign him down the stretch this year.
Thomas, who played in Boston from 2014-17, took to X to explain how he could help the Celtics win their first NBA Finals since 2008.
“My leadership alone would put this team over the hump!” Thomas said to a fan who posed the idea of Boston signing him this season. “I don’t even have to play a single minute. Just give me a jersey LOL.”
The Celtics can add a 15th man and fill their final roster spot with a player if they want to. While a reunion feels unlikely because Thomas has not played since 2022, it’s still an interesting move to speculate. Even if Thomas doesn’t “play a single minute.”
Thomas was a central figure of the mid-2010s Celtics. He was named an All-Star in back-to-back seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17) and even cracked the top five in MVP voting in 2016-17.
Nicknamed “The Little Guy” by the late Tommy Heinsohn, Thomas was integral in the Celtics’ two wins over the Hawks in the first round of the 2016 postseason.
The next season, he helped lead Boston to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers with series wins over the Bulls and Wizards before being ruled out of the playoffs with a hip injury. In Game 2 versus Washington, Thomas scored the second-highest points in a single playoff game in Celtics history with 53. He was one point shy of tying John Havlicek’s team record.
Just a couple of months later, in a shocking move, the Celtics traded Thomas to the Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving before the start of the 2018 season.
Since then, Thomas has played for seven different teams and has not come close to reaching his Celtics form again.
Although, he has publicly expressed interest in returning to Boston since being traded. And the Celtics reportedly wanted to bring Thomas back at one point, too.
As a member of the Hornets in March 2022, Thomas told reporters that he’s always wanted a reunion in Boston. The feeling was just never mutual to him.
“I’ve opened my arms to try and come back in so many ways,” Thomas said. “I’ve felt there’s been times where Brad [Stevens] could make a call and give me an opportunity and it hasn’t happened.”
However, a few months prior in Aug. 2021, NBA insider Marc Stein reported that the Celtics “had interest” in signing Thomas. Stein cited Stevens as being “one of Thomas’ biggest fans.”
A reunion never came to fruition, but Thomas seems interested in making something happen in 2024.
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