Isaiah Thomas finally has a target date for a return from his injury. According to Shams Charania of The Vertical, the Cavaliers point guard is targeting the first week of January for his return. This likely means he won't be playing on Christmas, but this is still a great thing for the Cavs. 

When the Cavs traded for Thomas, some feared that his hip issues could prevent him from ever suiting up with that Cavs. That was obviously a worst-case scenario type of fear. Now they're getting him back at what many people believe is the point of the season that separates the contenders from the pretenders. He is reportedly healthy enough to play right now, but Cleveland is taking a cautious approach on his road to recovery.

With the return of Thomas on the horizon, the Cavaliers should finally be at full strength, and the timing could not have been better. They've won 18 of the last 19 games played. There is obviously light concern that the addition of Thomas back from injury could slow down Cleveland's great play, but it's better to get those problems out of the way in January than it is in April right before the playoffs. He will provide consistency to the starting point guard spot for Cleveland and another scoring threat to its already prolific offense.

The Cavs will also be able to rely a little less heavily on LeBron James with Thomas back in the lineup. James is putting up MVP-caliber numbers this season with 28.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 8.4 rebounds per game -- all numbers higher than his career average. While that's awesome, the workload has been a little much and a guard like Thomas will be able to take the ball out of James' hands and give the Cavaliers another option on the floor -- whether that's in staggered lineups with the second unit, or next to Kevin Love and James remains to be seen. Flexibility on offense, more than anything else, is what he brings.

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Isaiah Thomas could return to the Cavs in the first week of January USATSI