Loser: Isaiah Thomas
Obviously, Thomas is headed to the Cavaliers with LeBron James, who (as everyone knows) has made 7 straight NBA Finals appearances. It’s never a bad thing to get to play with the best player in the NBA (possibly the greatest ever). But besides heading to the LeBron-led Cavs, this had to be a hard thing for Thomas to go through.
Isiah Thomas (the older one), spoke to MMAFighting.com about the trade. Isiah had a conversation with the ex-Celtics point guard:
"I spoke to Isaiah yesterday. Emotionally, he’s hurt. Emotionally, he’s wounded. Now from a basketball standard, he and Kyrie Irving, this will be great for them; they both will do well. But you know, it really was like a punch in the gut because it came out of nowhere. Kyrie was expecting the trade, he was prepared for it. But talking to Isaiah the other night, now he’s scrambling to find out where his kids are going to go to school, trying to find a place to live, and it was just so unexpected for him. And the thing the really just kind of pulled at my heartstrings was, you know, he gave his heart and soul to the Celtics; he gave them everything. It’s a business and we all understand it’s a business, but to have it happen in such a way for him, I think it really hurt him. And I think it’s going to be difficult for him to trust again, to give that trust, that loyalty, that love to another organization. And I think the Cavaliers are definitely going to have to do some relationship mending to get him back to the point where he loves being where he’s at. He’s a small guy. The thing that gets him over is his love and his passion. If those things are kind of missing a little bit, it’s going to be hard. So Cleveland has some relationship things that they’ve got to do to build that trust."
You can’t help but feel bad for Isaiah. He gave his all to Boston over his short tenure. Especially after he is coming off one of the most incredible seasons by a Celtics player ever. The former last pick in the draft put himself in the MVP conversation and became an All-NBA player.
Thomas also lifted the Celtics to a win by scoring 53 points in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semi Finals against the Wizards on the day of his late sister’s passing.
It seems so harsh to trade away what everyone thought was a Celtic for life. Even though he only played 3 seasons in Boston, they were some of the most memorable years and Celtics fans will always be grateful for what he did in such a short time.
Unfortunately, it is a business and Danny Ainge believes that Irving is the better option moving forward.