When it comes to trade season, the ever-elusive season-changing trade is in truth more of a historical rarity than a regular occurrence. That reality can be best illustrated by a study of the best players moved at the trade deadline in the history of the NBA by Hoops Hype’s Frank Urbina.
The assessment notes the rarity of true impact players being moved midseason given the salary cap and CBA-related roadblocks. It highlights the 15 best players dealt close to the deadline, and only one ended up with the Boston Celtics.
For Urbina, that sole Celtic is Isaiah Thomas, who came in ninth on his list.
“In what was the steal of the 2014-15 trade deadline and perhaps one of the bigger trade-deadline heists in league history, the Boston Celtics picked up Isaiah Thomas from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round pick.”
Jayen Brown turns to Celtics great Bill Russell when the balance of basketball and advocacy gets tough https://t.co/kDmeqv07YM
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 2, 2023
“Thomas would make the All-Star Game twice during his time with Boston and enjoyed nearly MVP-level play for a stretch there,” he adds. “Thomas would average 28.9 points and 5.9 assists with the Celtics in 2016-17, and only saw his play decline due to injury.”
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
[mm-video type=video id=01gqg9tj9mmj1yr5nr6h playlist_id=01eqbzegwgnrje4tv2 player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gqg9tj9mmj1yr5nr6h/01gqg9tj9mmj1yr5nr6h-a6f8529006faae0786f8b071bf45168c.jpg]
[vertical-gallery id=116587]
[lawrence-related id=116458,116451,116448,116354,116350,116211]
[listicle id=116437]
[listicle id=116517]
[listicle id=116351]
[listicle id=116286]