Three years ago, Isaiah Thomas sat at his TD Garden locker during his first season in Boston and looked up.
“They keep shipping me out,” he said.
Thomas was referring to the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. Those two places didn’t take him for what he was, a miniature scoring force that had worked from the last pick in the 2011 draft to a force in the league. They instead looked at his deficiencies. Too small. Bad defender. Shoot-first point guard. It was Boston that unlocked Thomas. Last season he was voted second-team All-NBA. He was introduced last at home games and was feted with usual New England gusto for working through personal tragedy and a busted tooth in the playoffs.