Isaiah Thomas: 'I am not damaged ... I'll be back'
Isaiah Thomas broke the silence surrounding his in-limbo trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday, saying that the hip injury holding up the deal is not a threat to his career.
"I am not damaged," Thomas told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. "I'll be back, and I'll be the same player."
While Thomas didn't go into specifics about the trade for Kyrie Irving that shook the NBA last week, he did concede that he may not be ready for the season opener - regardless of who he's playing for.
"Maybe I am not going to be back as soon this season as everyone wants me to be, but I'm going to be back, and I'm going to be the same player again," he said. "No doctor has told me anything different than that."
There is reportedly significant uncertainty within the Cavaliers organization about whether Thomas will play at all this season following the 5-foot-9 point guard's physical last Friday.
Thomas originally hurt his hip in March, but it flared up during his Boston Celtics' run to the Eastern Conference finals. He missed the last three games of that series, a defeat to his would-be new team, the Cavs.
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"Surgery was not the best option in this case," Thomas added. "I aggravated it in March when Karl-Anthony Towns fell on me. I kept playing on it, and making it worse, until I couldn't play anymore last season."
The apparent admission that he may not be ready for the beginning of the season jives with what Celtics president Danny Ainge said in the wake of the trade. Since then, the Cavs have become more concerned about the issue after performing a physical on Thomas.
"At the moment, yes, I am injured," Thomas said. "But I have made progress from May."
It's believed the Cavs are now pushing Boston for extra compensation - on top of Thomas, Jae Crowder, a first-round pick, and Ante Zizic - with an apparent deadline of Thursday to finalize a deal. Cleveland is no longer asking for one of Boston's younger players, such as Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, according to Wojnarowski.