The Cleveland Cavaliers have targeted early January as Isaiah Thomas’ long-awaited return date.
The light is shining very bright on the Cleveland Cavaliers organization right now, and it’s only going to get brighter with the return of Isaiah Thomas.
Since starting the season off at a horrendous (5-7) record, the Cavs have done a complete 180-degree turn. The Cavs have won 18 of their last 19 games and have been playing incredible basketball.
Cleveland now stands at 23-8, 1.5 games behind Boston for first in the Eastern Conference.
Even more impressive, the Cavaliers have been dominating without their All-Star point guard, Isaiah Thomas.
Thomas, who finished 5th in MVP voting last year by averaging 28.9 points, 5.9 assists and 2.7 rebounds while leading the Boston Celtics to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, has yet to play a game with his new team. Instead, the Cavaliers have been forced to work around his injury.
How have they done that you may ask?
By starting a multitude of other guards in his place. Derrick Rose, Jose Calderon and even Iman Shumpert have started at the point guard position attempting to fill in the vacant spot.
However, Thomas, who has been nursing a hip injury, is very close to returning.
According to The Vertical’s Shams Charania, Thomas and the Cavaliers are targeting the first week of January for the return date, and the ultimate end of #ThatSLOWGrind.
Cavaliers All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas is targeting the first week of January for his season debut with Cleveland, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2017
Thomas has made significant progress from his hip injury, has confidence he could play now, but plan has been set to ensure he returns for long run this season. Cavaliers face Portland, Boston and Orlando in first week of January. https://t.co/Nea7J7GJzl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2017
All NBA fans, especially Cavalier fans know that the 82-game season is a marathon, not a sprint.
Making sure players are healthy and fresh is key.
While Thomas could be ready to play now, there’s no reason to rush him back into things. The Cavs have been playing tremendous basketball without Thomas and will only reach new heights with him.
Related Story: Ranking the Cavs' top 10 players
My only request for Thomas: Come back January 3rd and be ready to ball at 8:00 p.m. (EST).