Lakers: Isaiah Thomas is leaving the door open to return to the Celtics
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Isaiah Thomas from the Cleveland Cavaliers at the NBA Trade Deadline. However, it is Thomas’ old team, the Boston Celtics, that he is teasing.
If Isaiah Thomas has won over your heart as a Laker fan then you may want to sit down for this one. If you want to see the Los Angeles Lakers bring back Thomas, even if it is only on a one-year deal, then Thomas’ cryptic tweets will be unsettling.
When the Lakers traded for Isaiah Thomas at the NBA Trade Deadline both sides were understanding of the fact that Thomas was merely a pawn in the Lakers’ cap space plans. Los Angeles was able to part ways with the $12.5 annually owed to Jordan Clarkson and create $61 million in practical cap space in the process.
Thomas, who before has stated that he is worthy of a max contract, seemed nothing more than a rental.
However, that dynamic changed the longer Thomas has been in Los Angeles. Thomas has increasingly been better for the Lakers; providing a veteran dynamic on a relatively young team. Even Thomas’ on-court argument with Julius Randle was painted in a positive light by head coach Luke Walton.
If the Lakers were unable to get two stars in the 2018 off-season, re-signing Thomas to a one-year deal similar to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s seemingly makes sense.
At the end of the day, though, Thomas is not ruling out any of his options. After a fan asked Thomas if he would ever return to the Boston Celtics, Thomas simply gave the most teasing response possible.
While it may be a bit of an overreaction, it is a bit odd that Thomas would take the time to respond to this specific question with the cryptic “anything can happen”. This is especially true as Thomas and the Celtics do not necessarily have the best relationship.
While it is unlikely that Thomas returns to Boston with Kyrie Irving, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown all getting good minutes, this tweet is telling of Thomas’ intentions. Perhaps he is out for that payday that he longed for; so much so that he is willing to go back to the team that arguably mistreated him.
At the end of the day, I like the Lakers’ chances of re-signing Thomas over the Celtics. But that all boils down to if the Lakers want to make that move. However, Thomas openly talking about his free agency while still under contract in LA is unsettling. He did not have to respond to this, it is twitter after all.
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Isaiah Thomas has a reason for this tweet, whatever it may be is unclear. At this point, though, all of the Laker fans that Thomas won over may want to start distancing themselves from the former all-star.