Things never seemed quite right with Isaiah Thomas in Cleveland. Now, less than six months after the Cavaliers acquired Thomas in a massive deal with the Boston Celtics for Kyrie Irving, Cleveland has flipped the veteran guard in another blockbuster trade.
News of the trade broke Thursday on Twitter, with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski sharing details of the swap.
Cleveland and Lakers in serious talks on a trade, league sources tell ESPN.
Cleveland is sending Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye to the Lakers for Clarkson and Nance, league source tells ESPN.
Cavaliers also sending its 2018 first-round pick in deal to Lakers, league sources tell ESPN.
Teams are getting on trade call now. Done deal.
Source: The Cavaliers 2018 first-round pick is protected.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne added that the Lakers plan to hold on to both former Cavaliers players.
The Lakers intend to keep both Frye and IT, per source. https://t.co/oHzU3sdfZw
All we can say is: WOW. We're sure there's much more to come on this deal.
The bottom line is, the Cavs had to make a move of some kind. Things were falling apart, and they're intent on making a fourth-straight NBA Finals run in what could be LeBron James' final season in The Land. It's likely LeBron had some type of say in this deal.
It will be fascinating to see how this move affects Cleveland's on- and off-court success in the second half of the NBA season. The Cavs are currently in third in the East, behind the Celtics and Raptors.
