Thomas looking forward to good fit with Cavs
BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas’ two sons had different reactions to his trade from the Boston Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His older son, James, is excited that his dad will get to play alongside LeBron James. Thomas’ younger son, Jaiden, had fallen in love with Boston and was afraid Cleveland won’t have any skate parks.
“Everything about that trade, everything that I was feeling in my heart in those moments — they got it down to the only two things that mattered,” Thomas said in a 3,500-word post on The Players Tribune about last month’s deal that sent him to the Cavaliers for fellow All-Star Kyrie Irving.
“And so when I say this hurts, man — just know that it isn’t because of anything anyone else did. It’s only because of something I did,” he said. “I fell in love with Boston.”
A 5-foot-8 point guard who was the final pick in the 2011 draft, Thomas was a role player for three teams before he came to Boston at the 2015 trade deadline.
He developed into a twotime All-Star and fan favorite with the Celtics, leading them to the No 1 seed in the East and an Eastern Conference final matchup with Cleveland in last season’s playoffs.
“This was the first place, the first organization, the first group of fans in the league that didn’t take one look at me, take one look at my size, and put me into the same role as always,” Thomas wrote.
“The Boston Celtics let me have a chance to be great. And I’ll never forget that.”
But an expiring contract — coupled with a desire for a new, maximum deal — and a hip injury that itself almost derailed the trade led Celtics boss Danny Ainge to deal Thomas to Cleveland along with Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and a first-round draft pick.
Irving had asked for a trade to a team where he wouldn’t have secondary billing.
Thomas said he is excited about playing with James, a four-time MVP, and Kevin Love, a former AAU teammate .
“I’ll say this here, pointblank, to get it over with — and then you can go ahead and post it on whatever bulletin boards you want to: You are not going to want to mess with the Cavs this year,” Thomas wrote.
“Me on the Cavs is a match made in heaven. If you’ve watched any Celtics games last year, then you know how many times I would have to go through double and even triple teams, just to get my shot off.
“Now are your really going to throw three guys on me, when I’m sharing a court with the best player on the planet? Nah, I don’t think so.”
After moving from the Celtics to their top rival in the East, Thomas said his job is now to destroy the team he helped build.
“It’s sad, man. It’s just sad,” he said. “But I didn’t come to Cleveland to lose.”
Among the messages Thomas received after the trade was one from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wishing him luck and telling him “You’re gonna do great.”
Thomas said that was bittersweet, because he had hoped to build a Brady-like career as an unheralded draft pick who went on to become an all-time Boston great.
“In my mind, I wanted to be the Celtics version of Brady and (Red Sox slugger David) Ortiz,” he wrote.
“So when I got that text from Tom, you know, there was part of me that felt a little down.”