Something needs to change for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers are amid a brutal stretch, having lost 11 of their last 14 games. Cleveland has struggled on both ends of the floor during the skid, and several players on the roster reportedly fear the team’s issues might not be fixable.
For a team dying for a spark, it comes as no surprise that the Cavaliers reportedly will be major players in the trade market leading up to the Feb. 8 deadline. Cleveland reportedly has its eyes set on this season’s top reported available player, Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.
But during Monday’s edition of “The Jump” on ESPN, NBA insider Brian Windhorst pondered a different blockbuster trade for the Cavaliers involving one of their newest players: Isaiah Thomas.
“The question is… would they consider making Isaiah Thomas available?” Windhorst said, as transcribed by UPROXX. “I can tell you this: It’s going very poorly with Isaiah and the Cavs right now. There is a lot of frustration with the team because he’s a guy who shoots the ball a lot. He holds the ball a lot. And when he’s averaging 30 points and shooting 45 percent from the field as he did last year for the (Boston) Celtics… things went well. Right now, there’s a lot of frustration with the way Isaiah’s playing on the team. And I wonder, even though it’s so early in terms of his return from injury… I wonder if the Cavs would consider moving Isaiah and would they put in a call to the Hornets to see if they could figure out if they could get Kemba Walker.”
Things haven’t gone as smoothly for Thomas and the Cavaliers as either would have liked. The point guard missed the first half of the season due to injury, and he’s been a source of drama upon returning. Thomas has received a lot of attention for his Celtics tribute video fiasco, and he’s also been openly critical of Cleveland’s effort level.
It’s hard to imagine the Cavs wouldn’t be interested in adding Walker. He’s one of the better point guards in the NBA and he’s under contract through the 2018-19 season. But with Thomas on an expiring contract and tagged with a murky injury history, the Charlotte Hornets surely would want a larger trade return for their franchise player.
However, the fact that Thomas even is tied to trade rumors sheds light on how messy it’s getting in Cleveland.
