Isaiah Thomas no longer has any hard feelings for Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge says Isaiah Thomas himself, per Jared Weiss of USA TODAY Sports.
Ainge engineered a trade back in August that sent Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and a 2018 first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving. It was a blockbuster trade that was also criticized by a lot of people, partly because of the timing.
Three months before the trade, Thomas’ sister died in a car accident. Despite the immensely sad news for Thomas, the then Celtics guard played in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Washington Wizards, a true show of dedication for the Celtics by Thomas that was obviously not reciprocated by Ainge when he shipped the guard to Cleveland. The trade also came at a time when Thomas was dealing with a serious hip injury that kept him out of action for seven months.
Thomas is finally back in action, though, and he seemed to not have lost a beat at all even after a long layoff. Thomas scored 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench during 127-110 win at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday.
Thomas and the Celtics will reunite on the floor Wednesday, when the Cavaliers pay Thomas’ old stomping ground. Expect a warm welcome for Thomas from appreciative Celtics fans, who have not forgotten the point guard’s colorful stint in Beantown.