Isaiah Thomas is emotionally wounded by the trade that sent him from the Boston Celtics to the Cavaliers Tuesday for Kyrie Irving, and Thomas' Hall of Fame mentor said the Cavs must go through some "relationship mending" to earn his trust.
Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas, speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani Friday, said he had recently spoken to Thomas, no relation, who had been with the Celtics since February 2015.
A 5-foot-9 point guard and two-time All-Star, Thomas was sent to the Cavs along with Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' unprotected first-round pick in 2018. Thomas, 28, is in the final year of his contract and wants a max deal next summer in free agency. Irving, 25, had asked Cavs owner Dan Gilbert to trade him on July 7.
"Emotionally he's hurt, emotionally he's wounded," the elder Thomas told Helwani, in Las Vegas in advance of the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. "Now from a basketball standpoint, he and Kyrie Irving, this will be great for both of them, they both will do well. It really was like a punch in the gut because it came out of nowhere. Kyrie was expecting a trade, he was prepared for it. In talking to Isaiah the other night ... it was just so unexpected for him.
"The thing that really kind of pulled at my heartstrings is he said he gave his heart and soul to the Celtics. He gave them everything. We all understand it's a business. But to have it happen in such a way for him, it really hurt him."
Isiah Thomas, who made the All-Star team 12 times in 13 seasons with the Detroit Pistons, knows the task the Cavaliers will face when Thomas arrives in Cleveland.
"I think it's going to be difficult for him to trust again, to give that trust, that loyalty, that love to another organization," Isiah Thomas said. "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, (and) 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."
