Isaiah Thomas on getting traded from Boston: 'It still hurts'

All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas is still hurting from the recent blockbuster trade that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The trade saw Kyrie Irving getting shipped to the Boston Celtics and a package of Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first-round pick and a second-round pick go to Cleveland.

Thomas, 28, averaged a career-high tally of 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game last season and led the Celtics to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Thomas also finished fifth in the Most Valuable Player (MVP) ballot, besides making the All-NBA Second Team ahead of a battery of All-Star point guards. Despite a career-defining season, Thomas generated little interest in the trade market due to his recent injury history.

"Everything about that trade, everything that I was feeling in my heart in those moments -- they got it down to the only two things that mattered. And so when I say this hurts, man -- just know that it isn't because of anything anyone else did. It's only because of something I did. I fell in love with Boston," Thomas wrote in an emotional post Wednesday on The Players' Tribune.

Isaiah Thomas would be playing for a new contract

Entering a contract year, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Thomas' immediate future. The undersized guard has been rehabilitating his injured hip since skipping most of the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavs in May. After doctors in Boston asked Thomas to avoid hip surgery, the guard stuck to his summer of regimen of rehabilitation and rest, with hopes of returning to the court for the 2017-18 NBA season.

Thomas is excited to team up with LeBron James, Kevin Love, a former AAU teammate, and the rest of Cleveland's championship-calibre roster. "Me on the Cavs is a match made in heaven. If you've watched any Celtics games last year, then you know how many times I would have to go through double and even triple teams, just to get my shot off. ... But this year . man, it's not even going to be a thing. You really going to throw three guys on me, when I'm sharing a court with the best basketball player on the planet? Nah, I don't think so."

Thomas, yet to start running, won't be a part of Cleveland's pre-season training camp. But he's confident of full recovery ahead of next year's playoffs. After Thomas' physical exam with the Cavs, reports surfaced of a possible standoff between Boston and Cleveland over the proposed trade package. However, the teams finalised the trade last week.