Isaiah Thomas will not play vs Jazz

It looks like Isaiah Thomas won’t be suiting up for the Cavs in 2017 after all. On Friday, Tyronn Lue ruled Thomas out of Saturday’s game with the Utah Jazz, which means that the first game Thomas could appear in would be January 2nd against the Blazers.

Via Cleveland.com:

Lue said Thomas is out for Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz and will participate in another scrimmage with teammates on New Year's Day. Thomas also said he doesn't know when he's coming back. It's not up to him, obviously.

Lue also said that Thomas wouldn’t play in back-to-backs early in his return, which poses a problem: the Cavs play the Blazers on the 2nd and the Celtics on the 3rd. Will the Cavs play Thomas against the Blazers and hold him out against his former team, a group that Thomas desperately wants to play?

Alternatively, it’s a tough sell to ask Thomas to debut in such a high-profile game. There aren’t any easy decisions here - we’ll just have to wait and see what the Cavs do