He confidently predicted Isaiah Thomas’ success with the Celtics, and he’s eloquently stated the virtues of Boston as a free agent destination. Now Isiah Thomas, once the object of Greenhearts’ ire, has yet another tie to the local basketball outfit.

The former Pistons great is a key mentor to Jaylen Brown, and he couldn’t be happier that his friend was drafted here No. 3 overall.

“Love that he’s with the C’s,” Thomas texted after the selection.

He believed it couldn’t have worked out better.

“When I got to know Jaylen Brown and how he played, I said to him — and this is before the draft process started — I said to him, ‘You’re a Celtic,’ ” Thomas told the Herald later. “He fits the Celtic culture that I played against, that I competed against. That I know.”

As noted here in a blog last Wednesday, Brown was unaware that Isiah Thomas was close with the Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas. But as soon as the dust had settled Thursday, Isiah, known to anyone remotely close to him as Zeke, sent each the other’s contact information and got them together by phone that night.

Meanwhile, back in Boston, fans were unhappy with the pick because a) they were hoping reported trade talks with Philadelphia and/or Chicago would bear starry fruit and b) they hadn’t seen much if any of Brown.

Thomas has, and he offered a comparison that may make Celtics followers sleep a little better after reading this.

“You hate to say this name, but I do see him as a defender first,” Zeke said. “He’s coming into the league with similar defensive skills as a Kawhi Leonard, who can guard a 1, 2 or a 3 out on the perimeter.

“I do think his offensive game, while it’s good, it’s going to get much better. I think he’ll be an above average 3-point shooter in the league. With his ability to handle the basketball, putting it on the floor — driving right, driving left — he’ll be able to get to the basket, and I do think he’ll be able to get to the line four to five times a night.

“But I think where people will find him most exciting right now is on the defensive side of the ball. I think he can step in right now and guard and hold his position, whether it be at the 2 or the 3. He can play 15 or 20 minutes for you in an NBA game right now.”

It helps to remember that Isaiah Thomas was the 60th and final pick in the 2011 draft, and Isiah even then had him ticketed for great things. Those two were initially brought together because of the similarities in their name — and game, each being a diminutive scorer.

The relationship with Brown took a more circuitous path.

“We actually bonded academically first,” said Thomas. “I got my master’s (degree) at Cal in education, and when he went to Cal, coincidentally he ended up meeting a gentleman who worked for me at (Florida International University) by the name of Hashim (Ali), and Hashim became his academic adviser.

“There was this one graduate class that was taught by Derek Van Rheenen, and I said to the professor when I took the class that I wish I would have had the opportunity to take this class as a freshman in college, because it was in the Cultural Study of Sports in Education, foundation of sports. So I recommended it to Jaylen that he take the class.

“At first, the dean didn’t want him to take the class because they didn’t think he would be able to handle it. So I advocated with the dean and he ended up getting in the class, and he got an A in it. So that’s how he and I got to know each other, and from that point on we just stayed in touch with each other. Very little of our conversation was around the game of basketball; it was more about academics and studying and competing in the classroom.”

Thomas was involved in Brown’s decision to enter the draft after just one season at Cal.

“During the course of the year, we texted and talked a lot,” Thomas said. “And after they lost to Hawaii (in the NCAA tournament), two or three days later he was sitting in my living room. He wanted to talk, so he flew here. He took a red-eye from San Francisco, stopped here in New York and we spent two days together just talking about the loss and school and should he come out or stay in.”

Weeks later, Brown is a Celtic, and if he and Isaiah help lead the club to a championship, Zeke, most likely sporting a broad I-told-you-so smile, may be in line for a ring or a seat on a duck boat.

The Detroit Pistons Bad Boy laughed at the notion he is aiding a former enemy.

“It doesn’t feel weird for me,” Thomas said, “because, like I’ve told you before, the Celtics were our mentors. They were our teachers. They were the masters of the game. So we as pupils, even though we grew up and we beat them, they’re still the masters.”