Isaiah Thomas certainly felt that the Cleveland Cavaliers were panicking when they made the moves they did ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
Thomas told E:60 in an upcoming interview that the moves Cleveland made at the deadline were down to panic.
“I didn’t think they would pull the trigger that fast, 15 games,” Thomas said. “But again, it’s a business. And the Cavs were, I mean, they were in panic mode. We were losing — a lot. And I think they felt like they needed to make a move, and they, they basically cleared house.”
Thomas felt that he was given a tough job joining Cleveland at midseason after a long injury layoff with the expectation of contributing.
“It was a tough situation I was being put in,” Thomas said. “It was — it was different. … It’s hard to get acclimated to a team halfway through the season.
“People don’t put in there that we had eight or nine new players. So it was basically a brand new team. … I’m in a new system. New team, new coach, new players. And then I’ve been off for seven months. So I got to get — individually, I got to for the most part get my rhythm back, get my timing back.
“It just didn’t work out. And that just happens.”
Thomas plays nice at the end here, but he’s made clear in the past there’s no love lost between himself and the Cavaliers. Ultimately, it’s hard for him to argue that the moves were bad — the Cavaliers are 3-1 and have looked invigorated since their new additions joined the team.
