Isaiah Thomas said that while he'd prefer to start with the Celtics this season, he's open to the idea of coming off the bench, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports.

Thomas said that while he'd prefer to start with the Celtics this season, he's open to the idea of coming off the bench, Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald reports.

Analysis:

Thomas played off the bench in each of his 21 games with the Celtics after coming over in a deadline deal with Phoenix, providing 19 points per contest on 41.2 percent shooting. The 5-foot-10 waterbug is the Celtics' best pure scorer from the backcourt, but his limitations defensively likely make Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley coach Brad Stevens' preferred starters at the two guard spots. Regardless of how Thomas is deployed, the Celtics' stated desire to generate more offense this season should work in his favor, which would almost certainly result in an uptick in the 26 minutes per game he averaged with the team last season.