For all of the drama surrounding the blockbuster trade between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers that sent Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland and Kyrie Irving to Boston, we haven't heard much from one of the key pieces involved.
We've heard plenty about Thomas (and his hip), but the injured All-Star point guard hasn't been talking to the media much since the trade. Now, thanks to yet another phenomenal profile by Lee Jenkins, we have plenty of thoughts directly from IT himself, and he does not hold back one bit. The whole piece is well worth reading, but this passage stood out for the pure emotion, both from Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, and Thomas. Via Sports Illustrated:
"I've been looking at this wall for five hours," Celtics coach Brad Stevens texted Thomas after the trade, "trying to figure out what to say to you." When Sacramento let Thomas walk in 2014, he left town telling himself, "F--- Sacramento. I'm about to kill those dudes." When Phoenix exiled him the following winter, he pledged, "O.K., now they're gonna get it." But there will be no revenge tour this time. "Boston is going to be all love," he vows, with one exception. "I might not ever talk to Danny again. That might not happen. I'll talk to everybody else. But what he did, knowing everything I went through, you don't do that, bro. That's not right. I'm not saying eff you. But every team in this situation comes out a year or two later and says, 'We made a mistake.' That's what they'll say, too."
More than most deals, the Celtics' decision to trade Thomas after all he had done for them -- carrying them to the Eastern Conference finals on a bum hip while mourning the death of his younger sister -- was a reminder that the NBA is a cold, hard business just like anything else.
Ainge was right to do what he did, making a trade he felt would better his team in the long run. Still, Thomas is certainly right to feel the way he does -- betrayed, frustrated, vengeful -- as well. And while he's rehabbing a serious hip injury, with no clear timetable for a return, there's little reason to doubt Thomas will make good on his vow to show the Celtics, and Ainge specifically, they made a mistake.
