Thomas still loves Celtics, but might not talk to Ainge again

Isaiah Thomas never looked back after being overlooked by Sacramento and Phoenix, but with Boston it was different.

Thomas built his legacy in three short years with the Celtics, helping elevate the fallen franchise into contender status with one heroic performance after another. In his own words, Thomas "made the Celtics cool again."

And after all that Thomas sacrificed for the franchise, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge dumped him when Kyrie Irving became available. That's the one thing that stings him when looking back at Boston.

"Boston is going to be all love," Thomas told Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated as part of an honest and introspective look at his tumultuous year.

"(But) I might not ever talk to Danny again. That might not happen. I’ll talk to everybody else. But what he did, knowing everything I went through, you don’t do that, bro. That’s not right. I’m not saying eff you.

"But every team in this situation comes out a year or two later and says, 'We made a mistake.' That’s what they’ll say, too," Thomas vowed.

Boston rode a physically and emotionally broken Thomas to the No. 1 seed and the Eastern Conference Finals last season, then used him as a recruiting tool to land Gordon Hayward one summer after he persuaded Al Horford to join. Thomas even strung along the idea that he would become a max contract player before he was unceremoniously dumped.

Thomas is still dumbfounded that the trade happened, comparing the deal to something that would happen in NBA 2K, and said leading the Celtics to playoff success was, "everything that I wanted."

But he did give Ainge some credit when it came to roster building. The pieces are there, although Thomas isn't sure the chemistry will be the same.

"Boston is going to be good," Thomas said. "They’ve got really good players and a great coach. But it takes more than talent. They lost a lot of heart and soul."