Out of nowhere, the Celtics swooped in and picked up someone who is now probably their best player, in a very opportune manner.

The most successful people in life are usually opportunists, which is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “a person who exploits circumstances to gain immediate advantage.” The Boston Celtics are certainly staking a claim to be named the NBA’s Grand Opportunist, as they continue to make transactions that put them in a better position to win, all without giving up too much in return.

Boston’s acquisition of Phoenix Suns point guard Isaiah Thomas came at the cost of just free-agent-to-be guard Marcus Thornton and Cleveland’s top-10 protected 2016 first-round draft pick, which to be frank is the equivalent of a bag of balls. Thornton has certainly made strides this season, but he’s still just a journeyman, and Cleveland’s pick has very little chance of panning out into anything. Meanwhile, Thomas is an imaginative score-first guard that excels whether he comes off the bench or starts, and is on an extremely team-friendly contract.

With that said, here are three reasons why the Celtics personally win this trade.

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Thomas cures Boston’s pick-and-roll woes

To say that the Celtics have been dismal scoring out of the pick-and-roll this season would be an understatement, as it has been their Achilles heel offensively since day one of the season. While they have had mild success passing to their efficient poppers (Kelly Olynyk) or rollers (Tyler Zeller), they are struggling when the ball handler holds onto the possession and tries to score. That’s where Thomas will make an instant impact for the Celtics, as he is one of the NBA’s better scorers out of the pick-and-roll.

Thomas ranks in the top third of three of the five main categories, per Synergy Sports, whereas the rest of Boston’s primary pick-and-roll ball handlers aren’t found until you scroll far down the list. Avery Bradley has been average, Evan Turner has been a turnover machine, and Marcus Smart’s miserable performance is forgivable, but only because he’s a raw rookie.

With 0.85 points per possession and a 42.2 Score% out of the pick-and-roll, per Synergy, Thomas immediately becomes Boston’s best and only threat in the screen game. Pairing Thomas with Olynyk or Zeller could make a lethal scoring combination, at least by the standards of the Eastern Conference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGUZpGcrZxU

Thomas is very good at keeping his dribble alive, penetrating the paint, and then either scoring, drawing a foul, or dishing it to a teammate, as shown in the three plays above.

Maybe most important of all is Thomas’ ability to draw fouls, since Boston gets to the line the second-fewest amount of times per 100 possessions in the entire NBA. They have lost a handful of games because of their inability to execute easy offense (like the pick-and-roll), but also because they haven’t had someone who can consistently get to the charity stripe.

Thomas will help solve that issue, and we should immediately see him used to the best of his ability by running pick-and-rolls with Boston’s versatile big men.

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Thomas is versatile on offense

Many of today’s point guards are so used to having the ball in their hands from an early age that they are better shooting off the dribble than they are off the catch, but that isn’t the case with Thomas. Of the 208 players that have appeared in 30 games and attempt at least one catch-and-shoot three-pointers per game, Thomas ranks 27th at 42.6%, per SportVU.

In the past two seasons, he’s hitting 41.7% of his spot up three-points to just 31.3% off the dribble, according to SportVU. This is worth noting since the Celtics lost one of their best spot up shooters in Marcus Thornton (43.7%), and now Thomas can easily come in and replace him.

Boston runs an equal-opportunity system, where different players will handle the ball depending on the situation. This means that Thomas will play off ball if Marcus Smart or Evan Turner plays point, so his ability to knock down open shots off the catch will be crucial to his success within the offense.

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Thomas has a team-friendly contract

Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge was one of the first people to contact Isaiah Thomas when he hit the free agent market last summer, but Thomas ultimately ended up singing a long-term contract with the Suns worth four-years and $27 million. At first glance it was an attractive deal, but now that we know the salary cap is set to go boom in 2016, it makes it even more attractive.

As the NBA’s cap room increases, Thomas’s contract will decrease, meaning he will occupy less of their spending money each season. In the final year of his deal, he’ll be making the equivalent of a $4.2 million player from this season, and this is even more mind blowing considering he is capable of scoring 20 points per game. And he only just turned 26 years old.

Boston already has a boatload of draft picks, easily tradable young assets, and lots of cap space over the next two summers, so they will be in a prime position to add to the roster in the coming years. The addition of Isaiah Thomas only makes Boston’s situation more attractive. They could have just taken one step closer to becoming a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference some day soon. You can never count out an opportunist like Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics.

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