Even if LeBron James decides to leave Cleveland again this summer, the Cavs could still retain Isaiah Thomas. I'm not sure if that could even be considered a silver lining, but sometimes in life you just take what you can get. That "report" (even though it's more of just a possibility) came via Brian Windhorst, who posted the exact scenario to ESPN on Tuesday morning.
As Windhorst wrote, this is largely dependent upon Thomas' play over the next few months:
Thomas is in a contract year, and he wants to be paid. League executives and agents judging the market believe Thomas’ best chance at a significant contract this summer is with the Cavs, and they believe he will proceed accordingly.
"Some believe the Cavs may still be interested in retaining Thomas." Strong words. The article then goes into detail about how Cleveland can offer him the most dough since they have his full Bird rights, while also outlining how Thomas has been well underpaid (by NBA standards) up to this point in his career.
Windhorst also pointed out that last summer (when he was still in Boston) Thomas said on a Celtics' broadcast that the organization knows they have to "bring the Brink's truck out" to keep him. Isaiah, who is currently the ninth-highest paid player on the Cavs' roster, has averaged 15.0 points and 3.3 assists per game in his three contests since returning to the team after recovering from a nasty hip injury.
