It might surprise you to hear it given what happened afterward, but even on a Phoenix Suns squad with limited playing time for him, Isaiah Thomas initially had some mixed feelings about being dealt to the Boston Celtics. "Usually before the trade deadline you get a sense of if you're going anywhere or not, and for me in my situation there was no sense that I was going anywhere," said IT on the "Pro's Pro" podcast. "I got on the team bus ... we were about to head to Minnesota on a road trip, and we're just waiting for the deadline."
"I remember Brandon Wright. Big, big fella that was on our team ... he's like, 'Man, IT, you just got traded' ... and he picks up his phone and shows a notification. And it says, you know, Isaiah Thomas traded to the Boston Celtics (...)," continued Thomas. "You take it personal at first, obviously, your teammates have nothing to do with it. So in that moment, I'm shaking everybody's hand, telling them good luck in the rest of the season. But I'm trying to figure it out too because I've never been traded (...)."
"I'm like, 'Hell no.' I'm like, 'There's no way,'" said IT. "Me just being a fan of the game of basketball, I knew Boston was in rebuild mode. So I'm like, 'I was just in Sacramento for three years, losing, and not like having a chance to make the playoffs.' When I'm in Phoenix, we're in the playoff race. This is like my first year possibly being in the playoffs. When I get traded to Boston, it was like a shock to me because I'd never been in that situation."
"I didn't know what to do," recalled Thomas. "I got off the bus. I remember calling my wife, telling her that happened. Obviously, she knew because the news and everybody's hitting me up. I talked to my agent. He says it's true. And I remember the first guy that called me, in terms of calling me about the trade was the older Isiah Thomas (...)."
"At this point, I'm not even really hearing them because, like, everything's coming so fast for me. I'm just thinking about, 'Dang, I really got to go to Boston. I (haven't) got a winter coat. (The elder Thomas) was like 'I know you probably won't understand it now. And it's crazy, this is coming from me to where a city that like hated me. He was like, 'This is going to be the best scenario for your career.'"
"He's like, 'That's all I'm going to tell you. And if you need anything, let me know. I'm here for you. But this is going to be the best situation moving forward for you," said the King in the Fourth.
And we all know what happened next.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Isaiah Thomas reveals he wasn't thrilled to be traded to the Celtics