So... what happens if the Celtics **** around and get the Number One overall pick? Do they pass on the BPA, because the BPA plays the same position as their best player? If they take the BPA, what do they do with their current guy? We already know how Thomas feels about being asked to come off the bench; do you draft a kid Number One overall, and ask him to come off the bench?
I suppose that, if Boston ends up with the Number One overall pick, they could trade it. But, and sorry to offend the IT-stans out there, if you trade the Number One overall pick, and you don't get back a guy who's better than Isaiah Thomas, then you're hustling backwards. It remains to be seen whether or not Thomas can be the second-best guy on a successful basketball team. There's plenty of reasons to believe that it should work, but there are a lot of Kings Fans who thought that it should have worked in Sacramento, and it didn't. Now, you can blame the other guy, if you want to (and I find that a preponderance of Thomas fans appear to), but it didn't work in Phoenix, either. Thomas has, by his own admission, stated that he wants to be like Allen Iverson, and the thing about Iverson is that he only managed to be successful on teams where Allen Iverson was the center of the solar system.
The other thing (bringing this back to the Celtics as a team), is that what really makes them work is Al Horford. I can't remember which analyst was saying it, but he unlocks their team: he's a talented big who can pass, spreads the floor, and can defend out on the perimeter... and, most important of all, doesn't want to be the go-to guy. He's kind of like a poor man's Sheed, from his Detroit days, in that he has the talent to be a go-to guy, but he's willing to look at the guard and be like, "You got it, Shorty!" That's the real key to Boston's success, and I'm not sure that they can fulfill their master plan without losing Horford. I know that Ainge has been stockpiling these assets to acquire a superstar, but I feel like any GM worth a damn would demand Horford in the deal, and then what happens? There's four, maybe six guys in the league that would make Boston into an immediate contender, and I wouldn't take anything less than Horford, Bradley and two firsts for any of them. There's maybe 5-6 guys after that who could make Boston a contender, if paired with Thomas and Horford... and even then, I start the bidding at Bradley, Olynyk and a first.
