Report: Isaiah Thomas Won’t Make Season Debut Before Tuesday

Isaiah Thomas is feeling so good that he wanted to make his debut against the Sacramento Kings this week, only to be denied by the Cleveland Cavaliers organization.

While Thomas sat out Wednesday against the Kings, he was active on Friday, participating in a full-court scrimmage against his Cavs teammates for the first time since the point guard was acquired in a trade from the Boston Celtics for Kyrie Irving over the summer.

Thomas was ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Utah Jazz by Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. However, his recent performance was encouraging for a Cleveland team that has suddenly lost three of its past four games coming off a streak in which it had won 18 of 19.

The Cavaliers next game following their road trip is Tuesday at home against the Portland Trail Blazers. Thomas has not been ruled out of that game, and Cleveland will hold another scrimmage at practice on New Years’ Day to get Thomas some more reps.

No matter how well Thomas looks, the odds of him playing against the Celtics on Wednesday at Boston’s TD Garden are long. For one, Lue said he will hold Thomas to playing only one leg of back-to-backs when he makes his return. So, if Thomas plays against Portland, he will automatically be out against the Celtics. Also, Thomas will be on a minute restriction whenever he returns, multiple sources told ESPN. And from the sound of it, Thomas has no interest in playing the Celtics at anything less than 100 percent.

Source: Dave McMenamin of ESPN