A report on Sunday from Yahoo’s Shams Charania indicated that Isaiah Thomas is targeting the first week of January to make his Cleveland Cavaliers debut. Thomas hasn’t played since the end of last postseason due to a hip injury, and while the usual timetable to return from the injury had him coming back in January, Charania’s report was the first time anyone gave a specific range of dates.
Thomas, however, doesn’t seem as stoked as you’d imagine someone in his position would be. Cleveland’s All-NBA point guard responded to Charania’s report with some humor before jumping into a criticism of the use of “sources” in the media.
https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas/status/942797515228962817
https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas/status/942799316305014787
This makes it sound like Thomas either doesn’t have a timetable to return quite yet, or that the timetable of “the first week of January against either Portland, Boston, or Orlando” is inaccurate. Hip injuries are tricky, so it’s totally plausible that the Cavaliers are going to wait until he’s 150 percent and shows that he’s able to stay healthy for an extended period of time before they make a final decision. If that’s the case, it’s also plausible they haven’t gotten to that point yet.
Additionally, there were rumblings that he might be targeting a December debut. If that’s true, he has five more opportunities to make that happen, most notably during the Cavs’ Christmas Day showdown with Golden State. It’s also possible that Thomas knows and is upset that his return got “spoiled” this far out.
Thomas has gotten to the point where he’s playing 4-on-4 in practice, so his return is presumably on the horizon. As for when that return is going to happen, well, Thomas’ tweets made it look like that’s still up in the air.
