New Cavs bring grit to rivalry
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — As if Celtics fans weren’t already looking forward to nights when their team plays Cleveland this season, the Cavaliers press conference introducing guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder and center Ante Zizic added incentive.
The Celtics-Cleveland rivalry didn’t need more fuel, but it was certainly given it yesterday when the three were introduced.
In his well-penned goodbye to Boston in the Players Tribune on Wednesday, Thomas said the Cavaliers were going to be a team that no one would want to face.
When asked point blank if he thought the Cavaliers got the better end of the deal in the trade for Kyrie Irving, he didn’t mince words when talking about adding the three players to a team that already includes LeBron James.
“Being put in this situation on the court is everything,” Thomas said. “To play with the best player in the world, to play with a guy like Kevin Love and J.R. Smith and Derrick Rose, and to be coached by a guy like Tyronn Lue, who played in this league for a long time, I said it in my Players Tribune piece, it’s like a match made in heaven.
“It’s a scary thing if everything is able to click with the guys we have coming in and the guys we have on this team. I’m excited and I can’t wait to get going.”
The Cavs aren’t expecting Thomas to return any time soon and said as much despite being repeatedly asked about his hip.
While they admitted there won’t be surgery, the Cavs also said Thomas won’t come back until he’s 100 percent healthy.
With that, replacing a four-time All-Star like Irving with a two-time AllStar like Thomas only adds to his determination.
“Bringing in a guy like myself and Jae Crowder and Big ‘Z’, I don’t think they’ve had that in the past,” Thomas said. “They’ve been a championship-caliber team. They’ve been arguably the best team the last however many years, but I think we had something they didn’t have.
“That’s toughness, grit and just people who have been counted out their whole careers. Me and Jae have kind of been cut from the same cloth. We’ve been counted out and we just have to keep fighting no matter what people say. That’s why we clicked so well in Boston. We want to raise that competitiveness.”
Thomas, Crowder and James have exchanged texts. The messages have all been the same: It’s about the excitement of winning a title no matter if they have to go through the Celtics or not.
“We’re playing to win right now,” Thomas said. “To be put into the situation where from the first guy to the last guy in this whole organization, they expect championships … we couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Thomas talked about being surprised by the trade and reiterated being hurt a bit, but quickly changed his thoughts into making the Cavaliers better.
Crowder, who has gone from having the onus of guarding James to playing with the 13-time All-Star and four-time NBA MVP, got his closure with the trade and is ready to take the next step.
That he was able to tell his mother about the move moments before she died from cancer brought even more resolution to the situation.
“There was a lot going on that day, obviously,” Crowder said. “The good thing about the ordeal was I was able to be with my mom before she passed. I was with her. I just told her, ‘We’re going to Cleveland,’ and like five minutes later she passed.
“That day was tough, but it was a good day for myself and for my basketball career to move on to an organization like this, like the Cleveland Cavaliers, and to be able to put myself in a position to play for it all.
“I couldn’t ask for nothing else. I was thankful for Boston, for everything they’ve done for me and for trading me to a team like this. I was thankful for the opportunity. That day was pretty wild.”
‘I was thankful for Boston, for everything they’ve done for me and for trading me to a team like this.’ — JAE CROWDER On joining the Cavaliers