The Cleveland Cavaliers gave up Kyrie Irving for an older, currently sidelined All-Star, but they’re reportedly not too concerned about Isaiah Thomas recovering from a hip injury.
Boston has believed rest + rehab would return Thomas' hip to a full recovery. Cavs plan to monitor closely, anxious to give him physical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 23, 2017
Cleveland has no short term concerns on Thomas' health. No surgery was needed on hip. Cavs are getting motivated All-Star in contract year.https://t.co/g4lRhcGmkb
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 23, 2017
The Cavs won’t know of I.T.’s availability until next month.
Worth noting: Boston, as Brad Stevens said on @TheVertical Pod, still waiting on a September scan to determine when IT available next season
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) August 22, 2017
Thomas, 28, is beloved in Beantown, but Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge knows he couldn’t pass up a chance to acquire a talent like Kyrie.
Per the Boston Herald:
“I’m not going to share anything about my conversation with Isaiah,” Ainge said. “I’ll leave it to your imagination about how difficult it was. . . . Trading (Thomas and Jae Crowder) was tough. Isaiah had an amazing season this year and entertained the whole city.”
Concern about Thomas’ hip and advancing age — he turns 29 in February — figured into the team’s assessment of his future. He’s also about to enter a contract year and has repeatedly talked about expecting a max deal. The Celtics were reserved about offering him that kind of money.
The kind of money, it should be noted, that Irving already makes, $60 in the next three seasons.
Ainge admitted that uncertainty about Thomas’ contractual future, and the fact the team has Irving for at least two more years (he has a player option in 2019-20), played a role in the trade.
“Contracts do play a part in trades, no doubt,” he said.
