As it stands right now, Isaiah Thomas is a Cleveland Cavalier.
According to this exclusive interview with ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, Thomas’ hip won’t be any hinderance to the trade & all the talk has been completely overblown:
“I am not damaged,” Thomas told ESPN on Tuesday. “I’ll be back, and I’ll be the same player.
“There’s never been an indication that I wouldn’t be back, and there’s never been an indication that this is something messing up my career. Maybe I am not going to be back as soon this season as everyone wants me to be, but I’m going to be back, and I’m going to be the same player again. No doctor has told me anything different than that.”
Thomas, 28, is going into the final year of his contract, and has already made it clear he is looking to be paid handsomely.
He wants to make it clear the Cavs are getting the same dynamic, scoring guard from last season:
“I haven’t had one doctor tell me that this injury is going to hurt my career,” Thomas said. “Surgery was not the best option in this case. I aggravated it in March when [Minnesota’s] Karl-Anthony Towns fell on me. I kept playing on it, and making it worse — until I couldn’t play anymore last season.”
Thomas says he’s been in total contact with the Cavs since his physical in Cleveland, so all of this talk of Cleveland being so “concerned” with his hip seems to be overblown.
We will see.