Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Trade and Roster Rumors: Isaiah Thomas May Be Out Until February
Isaiah Thomas is finally an official member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the team may have to find a way to get by without him for the first half of the season because he may have to sit on the sidelines until the All-Star break in February.
"No one is willing to put a timeline on when Thomas might return to the court. The fact he isn't running yet certainly is not a good sign. One source with experience dealing with the type of hip problems Thomas is facing predicted it could be January or even the All-Star break before Thomas returns to game action. That doesn't leave much time for a new player to establish chemistry and rhythm with a team trying to compete for a championship," Jason Lloyd said in his report for The Athletic.
Well, the Cavaliers already knew that Thomas wouldn't be ready for the start of the season because of his hip injury. In fact, a hip specialist seemed to think that the All-Star point guard might miss the entire season.
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That's why they asked for more compensation from the Celtics in the deal to send Kyrie Irving to Boston. Aside from Thomas, forward Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 unprotected first-round pick, the Celtics had to send the rights to the Miami Heat's 2020 second-round pick to the Cavaliers to complete the deal.
They knew the risks involved when they agreed to the trade and they were obviously willing to wait until January or February for Thomas to return.
The Cavaliers haven't established an exact timeline for his return, so it's possible Thomas may be back sooner than expected.In the meantime, Derrick Rose will start at point guard for Cleveland while Thomas recovers and he will have to take some of the playmaking load off the shoulders of LeBron James.
