Interesting ESPN Article on IT's Hip Injury

[jpotter33]

https://twitter.com/tomhaberstroh/status/905417693356011521

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20595342/nba-cleveland-cavaliers-guard-isaiah-thomas-faces-uncertain-return-potentially-career-ending-hip-injury

This raises a few interesting questions, and I'm sure it'll appeal to the conspiracy theorists of the blog.

[Dino Pitino]

Phew. It's coldhearted, but it still feels so good that Isaiah's hip is not going to be our problem. (And extra good that it'll be the Cavs' problem.)

[coffee425]

great article.

this injury is being highly underrated to the average fan. we're literally talking about a deformity in two hip bones, and the resulting tear of the cartilage in between.

[ssspence]

Kinda belittles all the moaning and whining comparisons between Irving and IT.

Basically, I hope Irving turns out to be worth Zizic, the Nets pick, and whatever late 1st the Cs could have gotten for Crowder -- especially if Davis does become available (unlikely IMO), and those assets could've been used on him.

Sadly, Thomas seems more-likely-than-not to be virtuously worthless in this trade.

[Rosco917]

Even when he returns, and seems perfectly healthy, it's a time bomb waiting to go off. The more he plays, and continues to take physical abuse will aggravate the problem.

I'm sure Danny spoke to all the doctors concerned in depth, and made a decision to pass on the little guy.

I don't think anyone here wish's ill to IT.

[celticsclay]

Stinks for Thomas, but this could actually end up being a crazy smart deal.

[Roy H.]

So the theory is that he played with a torn labrum since December, rather than March? And he played like an MVP?

If his treatment gets him at least until that level -- partially torn -- it sounds like he'll be fine. As the doctor noted, there are tons of guys playing with hip injuries:

Philippon says "a lot of players" come to see him for a hip tear but they don't fix it surgically, and no one hears about it.

[azzenfrost]

I hope he gets back to top form.

[jambr380]

What I found most interesting is that players like Flynn, MCW, and Webster, who all showed decent potential to start their careers, have all been labeled as busts when maybe it was their hips that did them in. Of course it doesn't mean that IT will suffer the same fate, but the article does paint a pretty grim picture of what might happen.

As others have stated - and I feel bad saying this - I am happy to not have to deal with IT's future contract due to his injury possibilities and age. With Danny also feeling this way, it is best to compare what Kyrie provides us compared to the BKN '18 pick and Crowder and leave IT out of the equation.

I really do wish IT the best. He deserves a nice contract and has worked incredibly hard to get to an all-star level. It really would be a shame if this derailed his career.

[Roy H.]

What I found most interesting is that players like Flynn, MCW, and Webster, who all showed decent potential to start their careers, have all been labeled as busts when maybe it was their hips that did them in.

It would be interesting to know when some of those guys injured their hips. MCW was in steep decline before the surgery, for instance, but maybe he was playing with an injury.

[Ilikesports17]

Not sure if I buy the idea that hes been hurt since December, but I did note that he lost a lot of his burst over the last few months of the season.

Thought it was just fatigue from the workload and he was still able to be very effective so I wasnt too worried about it.

[greg683x]

I see lots of conjecture and jumping to conclusions

[kozlodoev]

Phew. It's coldhearted, but it still feels so good that Isaiah's hip is not going to be our problem. (And extra good that it'll be the Cavs' problem.)

I'm not disappointed that we won't have to worry about Thomas' hip. I am, on the other hand, concerned we'll have to worry about Irving missing 10-20 games a season.

[celticsclay]

So the theory is that he played with a torn labrum since December, rather than March? And he played like an MVP?

If his treatment gets him at least until that level -- partially torn -- it sounds like he'll be fine. As the doctor noted, there are tons of guys playing with hip injuries:

Philippon says "a lot of players" come to see him for a hip tear but they don't fix it surgically, and no one hears about it.

Roy if IT misses the whole season do you still hate the trade?
If IT is not the same player do you still hate it?

Just genuinely curious. I hated the trade at first but it seems like I thought IT was going to be fine which now seems in doubt.

[Roy H.]

So the theory is that he played with a torn labrum since December, rather than March? And he played like an MVP?

If his treatment gets him at least until that level -- partially torn -- it sounds like he'll be fine. As the doctor noted, there are tons of guys playing with hip injuries:

Philippon says "a lot of players" come to see him for a hip tear but they don't fix it surgically, and no one hears about it.

Roy if IT misses the whole season do you still hate the trade?
If IT is not the same player do you still hate it?

Just genuinely curious. I hated the trade at first but it seems like I thought IT was going to be fine which now seems in doubt.

Under those circumstances I'd be okay with the deal.  But, I don't expect that to happen.