A late and seemingly inconsequential signing by the Cavs may suddenly become key to their season

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September 1, 2017 7:02 PM

If Isaiah Thomas is out until February with his hip injury, as one report speculates, it will put the spotlight on Derrick Rose.

The Cleveland Cavaliers temporarily called off the Kyrie Irving trade to the Boston Celtics due to concerns over Isaiah Thomas' hip injury.

After nabbing an extra draft pick from the Celtics (a future second-rounder), the trade finally went through.

While Irving and Thomas are somewhat similar players and the Cavs did extremely well for themselves by nabbing the 2018 Brooklyn Nets pick in the trade, the reports on Thomas' hip injury should concern the Cavs.

According to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, Thomas could be out until the All-Star break with the injury.

"No one is willing to put a timeline on when Thomas might return to the court. The fact he isn't running yet certainly is not a good sign. One source with experience dealing with the type of hip problems Thomas is facing predicted it could be January or even the All-Star break before Thomas returns to game action. That doesn't leave much time for a new player to establish chemistry and rhythm with a team trying to compete for a championship."

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