Last week (August 22nd to be exact), the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics came together for a blockbuster offseason trade. The Cavs, last season’s Eastern Conference champions, agreed to send All Star point guard Kyrie Irving to Boston. In return, the Celtics would send Isaiah Thomas, who is also an All Star, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected first round pick in next year’s NBA Draft to Cleveland.
Thomas, now 28 years of age, flew to Cleveland on Friday for his physical examination, which seems to have shown some lingering damage to the hip injury (torn labrum) he suffered last season.
There were some experts and analyst who believed that the results of Thomas’ physical examination could prompt the Cavaliers to ask for more from the Celtics in compensation.
For several days after the trade became official, it was unclear what sort of agreement the two sides would reach, or whether or not the Cavs would indeed ask for more. However, on Tuesday night, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the two sides have begun negotiating on possible solutions.
“Cleveland and Boston officials started to engage each other on a solution on Tuesday, league sources told ESPN. Cleveland is no longer seeking one of the Celtics’ top young players or significant draft picks, league sources said. The Cavaliers could be inclined to complete the deal for a late first-round pick or second-round considerations, league sources said.”
Thomas is coming off of the best season of his NBA career. In his 76 games played for the Celtics during their 2016-17 campaign, the former Washington Husky standout averaged a career-high 28.9 points on 46 percent shooting from the field (career-high), 5.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in 33.8 minutes per contest.
While there is some concern as to whether or not he will be available at the start of the season, Thomas, who is in the final year of his contract, wanted to make it clear that he will be back and better than ever.
“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,” Thomas continued. “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.”
All players who are involved in this trade must have reported and submitted their physical exams to their new team by Wednesday at 10:00 a.m EST. Per league rules, the Cavs and Celtics have until Thursday at 10:00 a.m. EST to approve the tests. However, both sides could agree to extend the deadline a bit further.