{"id":889,"date":"2016-09-24T18:27:49","date_gmt":"2016-09-24T22:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=889"},"modified":"2016-09-24T18:27:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-24T22:27:49","slug":"isaiah-thomas-sports-illustrated-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/09\/24\/isaiah-thomas-sports-illustrated-ranking\/","title":{"rendered":"Isaiah Thomas Sports Illustrated Player Ranking is Ridiculous"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah Thomas<\/a> <\/strong>has spent his entire career under the radar. Standing at 5\u20199\u201d, he has been viewed as too small to be a star, but underestimating him just adds fuel to the fire. The most recent underrating of Thomas was last week, when Sports Illustrated <\/strong>revealed their NBA <\/strong>player rankings<\/a> for the 2016-17 season.<\/p>\n

Isaiah Thomas Sports Illustrated Player Ranking is Ridiculous<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some of the rankings were controversial, including\u00a0Thomas at 45th, which is just ridiculous. Both\u00a0Thomas’\u00a0drive to improve and his impact on the game are among the best in the NBA.<\/p>\n

Thomas’ Continuous Improvement<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The point guard has progressed each season. It started in 2011, when he was drafted 60th\u00a0<\/span>overall – with the very last pick in the draft – by the Sacramento Kings<\/strong>. Over three seasons in Sacramento, he went from being best known as the last pick in the draft to being a starter in the NBA. His points and minutes per game, as well as\u00a0usage rate, increased in each season with the Kings. Thomas then signed\u00a0with the Phoenix<\/strong> Suns<\/strong>, spending just 46 games with them\u00a0<\/strong>before\u00a0they traded him to the Boston Celtics<\/strong><\/a>. After a successful half-season in Boston, Sports Illustrated ranked Thomas\u00a088th\u00a0in their rankings before the 2015-16 season, to which he\u00a0expressed his disappointment:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/Isaiah_Thomas\/status\/638379647198064640<\/p>\n

Instead of letting that drag him down, the Washington <\/strong>native just used it as motivation. He turned around and put up a career-high 22.2 points per game while dishing out 6.2 assists. He was one of seven players in the league to average 22 and 6 (the others being Stephen Curry<\/a><\/strong>, James Harden<\/a><\/strong>, Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong>, Kyle Lowry<\/a><\/strong>, Chris Paul<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0and Russell Westbrook<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Thomas was also a first-time All-Star last year. He didn\u2019t win the popularity vote from the fans, but he won the more meaningful vote from the coaches. Instead of watching on T.V. like the fans do, coaches see up close how dangerous Thomas\u00a0is.<\/p>\n

Not only did the coaches believe that Thomas deserved to be an All-Star, but players did too. \u201cIsaiah is an unbelievable competitor,\u201d All-NBA point guard Chris Paul said. \u201cI thought he was going to be an All-Star last year, but I\u2019m happy that now the rest of the league and the world gets to see how good he is.\u201d [NBA.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Thomas deserves a higher ranking based on his All-Star appearance. Only 24 players make the game, and everyone involved in the game thought he deserved it. Due to Thomas’\u00a0continuous improvement, it is unlikely that 2016 will be his\u00a0sole appearance at All-Star weekend.<\/p>\n

Thomas’ Tremendous Impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In addition to his improvement, Thomas\u00a0is one of the most impactful players\u00a0in the league. He has been one of the main factors in Boston’s climb back to relevance. When the Celtics traded for Thomas at the 2015 trade\u00a0deadline, their record was 20-32. They had their sights set on the draft lottery, not the playoffs. However, Thomas propelled his team to a 14-7 post-deadline record in games in which he played, leading to\u00a0a playoff appearance. The Celtics were the No. 7 seed but were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u00a0has been the most effective player on a playoff team for two seasons. When he was on the court with the Celtics in 2014-15, their offensive rating was 111.8, which would\u2019ve been top five in the whole league. In the 2015 playoffs, Thomas\u00a0was the sole reason that his team didn\u2019t lose by thirty in every game. LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> and company outscored Boston by just 3.3 points per 100 possessions when Thomas was on the court, compared to 21.4 when he was off the court.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a year. Thomas led the Celtics to the playoffs as the No. 4 seed, with a win-loss record of 48-34 (tied for third) – a big improvement, despite not many roster changes. In the regular season, the Celtics had an offensive rating of 109.4 with Thomas on the court, an elite number. However, their offensive rating\u00a0was just 100.9 with him on the bench, which would\u2019ve been the second-worst rating in the NBA.<\/p>\n

The Celtics are 68-44 in the regular season since trading for Thomas. Just six teams have been better over that time span: the Warriors at 97-15, the Spurs at 88-21, the Cavs at 76-32, the Clippers at 73-36, the Thunder at 71-39, and the Raptors at 68-42. Isaiah Thomas\u2019 performance results in wins; his stats aren\u2019t empty.<\/p>\n

The Celtics would be a mediocre team without Thomas, so it\u2019s a good thing that they don\u2019t know what that\u2019s like. He was one of just 18 players in the league to appear in all 82 games last year, and one of five who averaged over 30 minutes in those 82 games.<\/p>\n

Sports Illustrated’s Unfair Reasons for Knocking Thomas<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The best player on a playoff team deserves more respect. There aren\u2019t 44 players in the league with Thomas’\u00a0talent and effect on his team. In fact, SI\u2019s only basis for Thomas\u2019 low ranking was his 2016 playoff performance.<\/p>\n

Because of that, it\u2019s ridiculous to rank complimentary players or players who have never been to the postseason above Thomas. That group includes players such as\u00a0Khris Middleton<\/a><\/strong>, Rudy Gobert<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0and Derrick Favors<\/a>.\u00a0Kevin Love<\/a> <\/strong>couldn\u2019t lead the Minnesota\u00a0<\/strong>Timberwolves <\/strong>to the playoffs when he was their main player; Nicolas Batum<\/a> <\/strong>and Serge Ibaka<\/a> <\/strong>have been solid over their careers, but they\u2019ve also been compliments to all-stars. If they had lead roles, they wouldn\u2019t be as effective as Thomas is. All of these players were unjustly ranked above Thomas.<\/p>\n

The reasoning behind those players\u2019 rankings is their likely improvements. However, as mentioned above, Thomas has proven himself as a top talent while progressing and winning more throughout his career.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that the electrifying guard is without flaws. As SI stated, Thomas\u00a0did have a weak playoff performance. His overall efficiency went down as the Atlanta Hawks <\/strong>ousted the Celtics in six games. He scored 24.2 points per game, but on just 39.5 percent shooting from the field and 28.3% from the three-point line.<\/p>\n

Thomas Was a One-Man Team in the Playoffs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although Thomas\u2019 individual performance in the most recent\u00a0playoffs was lackluster, SI failed to acknowledge the reasons behind his struggles. Injuries were undoubtedly\u00a0a factor.<\/p>\n

Avery Bradley<\/a> <\/strong>was out for most of the series with a hamstring injury. Bradley emerged as a secondary scorer for the Celtics last season; he averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game on 44.7 percent from the field, shooting\u00a036.1% from deep.<\/p>\n

Jae Crowder<\/a> <\/strong>was another scoring option. He had a career year in which he scored 14.2 points per game on 44.3 percent shooting. However, an ankle injury that he suffered in late March<\/a> restricted Crowder’s\u00a0effectiveness in the playoffs. He was nonexistent, averaging just 9.5 points on an abysmal 27.8 percent from the field during\u00a0the series.<\/p>\n

Kelly Olynyk<\/a> <\/strong>was another missing weapon. In the regular season, he averaged 10 points per game. He finished\u00a0in the top 20\u00a0in three-point percentage at 40.5 percent, the only center to make the top 20. The two-man combo of Thomas and Olynyk outscored opponents by 7.4 points per 100 possessions when on the floor together, the most of any Celtics duo\u00a0throughout the season. Olynyk\u00a0tweaked a shoulder injury in the first game of the series,\u00a0playing in\u00a0just four of the remaining games. Like Crowder, he provided essentially nothing for the team. In 32 minutes over four games, Olynyk\u00a0scored just two points and shot 1\/9\u00a0from the field.<\/p>\n

The lack of help around Thomas allowed the top five Hawks defense to shift all of its attention to him; he was the only player who could create offense and score effectively. Had just one or two of those injuries not happened, Thomas\u00a0could\u2019ve operated without facing double teams outside and big men inside. Bradley and Crowder command attention from their respective defenders, and Olynyk\u2019s shooting provides spacing. Their absences made Atlanta\u2019s task to lock down Thomas much easier.<\/p>\n

Thomas’ Defense is Underrated<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another knock on Thomas is his defense. Due to his small frame, he gets a reputation as a bad defender. Thomas isn\u2019t an All-NBA defender, but he’s a better defender than he gets credit for. ESPN<\/strong>\u2019s Chris Forsberg <\/strong>broke\u00a0down Thomas\u2019 individual and team defense in-depth<\/a>;\u00a0Thomas\u2019 defense used to be a negative, but now it\u2019s becoming positive, or at least neutral,\u00a0for\u00a0his team.<\/p>\n

Celtics coach Brad Stevens<\/strong> praised Thomas\u2019 defense in\u00a0December of last season: <\/strong>\u201cWe need [Thomas] to continue to defend at the level he\u2019s capable of because he\u2019s really had an impact on that end, too,\u201d Stevens said. [Sacramento Bee<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Look around the league and try to find\u00a044 players who deserve a higher ranking\u00a0than Thomas. His improvement each year and his impact on the game are both\u00a0terrific. All factors considered, SI’s\u00a0ranking confused everyone, including Thomas himself:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/Isaiah_Thomas\/status\/776737508407345156<\/p>\n

Being overlooked is nothing new for Thomas, though. Just like always, he is going to use this as motivation to make his doubters eat\u00a0their words. Sports Illustrated can underrate Thomas all it wants, but that\u2019s just the way he likes it.<\/p>\n

Main photo:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n