The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics recently shocked the NBA world when they completed a trade that sent All-Star point Kyrie Irving to the Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round pick.
The move was viewed as beneficial for both teams as the Celtics got a perennial All-Star in Irving that no longer wanted to play in Cleveland as he demanded a trade just months earlier, and the Celtics got a two-time All-Star point guard in return in Thomas, as a well as a solid role player in Crowder and a first round pick to help Cleveland rebuild if LeBron James decides to leave in free agency next summer.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that Thomas’ nagging hip injury was part of the reason they decided to deal him. Thomas missed most of the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland with the injury.
While the deal looked to be done, Thomas took his physical with the Cavaliers Friday and it revealed some issues with his hip that Cleveland was not pleased with, so it appears the two sides are set to talk on Thursday to possibly re-negotiate the trade, via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
In the aftermath of issues resulting from Isaiah Thomas’ physical examination on Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics are planning a telephone call for Saturday to discuss the status of the teams’ blockbuster trade, league sources told ESPN.
According to Wojnarowski the teams have until Wednesday morning to submit the physicals to the league unless the two sides mutually decide to extend the deadline. Cleveland has until Thursday to make a final decision to approve the trade. A failed physical allows them to veto the deal and send all players back to their original teams.
One thing Cleveland can ask for is more compensation in the trade due to Thomas’ injury, but it remains to be seen if that is something that Ainge would be interested in doing.
