Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Trade and Roster Rumors: Isaiah Thomas Has Loss of Cartilage and Arthritis in Hips
Last Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers finally introduced Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Žižić to the media, and it gave them the chance to address the elephant in the room.
Everybody wanted to know more about Thomas' injured hip. After all, it was the reason the trade was delayed. People wanted to find out if this was going to be a long-term issue, but Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman never gave Thomas the chance to talk about his right hip and he ended up intercepting all the questions about the All-Star point guard's health during the press conference.
So instead of getting answers, more questions were raised. Thomas has been diagnosed with a right femoral-acetabular impingement (FAI) with labral tear, but The Athletic's Jason Lloyd has recently reported that Thomas' hip injury may be more serious than initially thought and he may be dealing with arthritis and loss of cartilage as well.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"One source with direct knowledge of Thomas' hip condition told The Athletic last week that he is dealing with more than just a tear. Some of those secondary issues in the hip he has played with for years now, such as a loss of cartilage and some arthritis, are complicating his healing process," Lloyd said.
"No one has any idea how quickly this will heal or if it even will heal at all. It's hard to predict," the source told Lloyd.
In short, nobody really knows how soon he will be back, and the Cavaliers may have to play without him for most of the season. They have Derrick Rose and José Calderón on the roster. However, both of them have been quite injury-prone throughout their career.
Thomas will be back sooner or later, and he will help the Cavaliers in any way he can. But it's interesting to hear that he has been playing with the injury for years now.
