Underdog Isaiah Thomas facing biggest challenge of career

All-Star guard was traded to Cavs for Kyrie Irving on Tuesday

BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas’ basketball journey is littered with decision-makers who have underestimated the diminutive guard.

He was selected last in the 2011 NBA draft coming out of Washington, and when he arrived in Boston he looked only to be a role player for the storied franchise. Thomas has had to prove his worth with every stop.

Now, following the biggest slight of his NBA career, he’ll have to do it again.

All eyes will be watching how he rebounds after Tuesday’s blockbuster trade. The Celtics sent the two-time All-Star packing from a franchise and city that he’d embraced with every ounce of his 5-foot-9 frame. He’s now bound for Cleveland in exchange for a bigger star — and what the Celtics believe is a better point guard for them — in Kyrie Irving.

For all the praise Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge showered on Thomas in explaining what he’s meant to the Celtics, the organization took Irving — a fourtime All-Star, Olympic and NBA champion — over the scrappy underdog who’s just beginning to build his resume.

It’s the ultimate reminder of how fickle the business of the NBA can be.

“I’ll leave it to your own imaginations to realize how difficult that conversation might have been for me and Isaiah,” Ainge said of informing Thomas of the trade.

Difficult perhaps, but it underscores the fact that an NBA executive with a moniker like “Trader Danny” clearly prioritizes the pursuit of championships over personal bonds.

“You do pay a heavy price