Isaiah Thomas has broken his silence about his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The guard was moved before Thursday’s deadline by a Cleveland Cavaliers team he played just 15 games for, the franchise hitting eject — and maybe the panic button — on Thomas’ poor play and flipping him to the Lakers as part of a deal that netted them Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Though we heard lots of scuttlebutt about whether Thomas would come off the bench, or what he was feeling through intermediaries, Thomas himself didn’t say anything publicly until late Thursday night or early Friday morning, depending on which time zone he tweeted from.
https://twitter.com/isaiahthomas/status/961850363929288704
The “only 15 games” note is a key here, but Thomas does seem genuine about his appreciation to play in Cleveland for at least a brief time. It’s been a tough situation for the guard, as he came to Cleveland still recovering from his hip injury. Then, almost as soon as he hit the lineup, the Cavaliers began to swoon and struggled more than ever.
Thomas got — and passed around — a lot of the blame for those struggles, and the team decided they’d had enough and needed to do something different. And so Thomas is on his third team in nine months. It’s clear that he’s moving on here, mostly because he has to.
