Isaiah Thomas willing to pass on payday this year to better Celtics

There might be no one on the Boston Celtics that should be more nervous than Isaiah Thomas. He saw how the Celtics played without him in Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, and he surely has heard the trade talks involving him in recent days.

But what Thomas is thinking about right now is how his Celtics can get better, and he said in an interview Friday that he was willing to forego a big payday in the near future if it meant signing one or two big free agents.

"We need the best possible player that's gonna help us win, and I'm with that," Thomas said, via ESPN. "Anything Danny (Ainge) and this organization need me to do to help bring even more talent to this city, I'm all for that."

Plenty of names have been tossed out as potential free agent and trade possibilities — among them Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap and Paul George — but to get any one of those players the Celtics will have to shell out some considerable money.

Some of that money could very easily go to Thomas, who is coming off an MVP-caliber season in which he averaged 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game. But Thomas knows it will take more than him to win, and more specifically to beat the Cavaliers. The Celtics need help, and if Thomas has to give up some money in the short-term to make that happen, he is willing to do so.

"I want to win a championship and being so close to getting to the Finals, that makes you want it that much more," he said.