Isaiah Thomas on being traded: “There’s no hard feelings.”

Isaiah Thomas is back in Boston tonight for the first time since being traded to the Cavaliers. Though he won’t be playing, he still had plenty to say about the matchup, his recovery, and the trade overall .

This isn’t the first time Thomas has spoken openly about the Celtics since being moved, but it’s the first time he’s done so in a reporter scrum. And, as always, he was open and honest with everything he said.

Remember when Thomas said he didn’t know if he’d ever speak to Ainge again after he was traded? Yeah, that didn’t last long. Apparently, according to Thomas, the two were texting on Tuesday night ahead of their matchup.

It didn’t take very long for his attitude to change there. As he said from the beginning, he recognizes that the NBA is a business. Still, he was clearly hurt by what went down and seemed pretty adamant about his stance. It’s interesting that it changed so quickly.

He said he almost walked into their locker room!

Thomas wasn’t in Boston for a long time, but you can tell he built a genuine connection with the city, organization, and its players. He may still be a bit sour about the trade, but that doesn’t change everything he did as a Celtic and those are times he won’t forget.

He even still watches them play.

Somebody tell Danny to get on that Christmas card, though.

Obviously Thomas is coming back from injury and starting him off by playing back-to-back games probably isn’t smart, but you’d think the Cavs would hold off and allow him to return against Boston.

But Thomas didn’t really want to do that. If he’s going to play the Celtics, he said, he wants to do it at full strength and not on a minutes limit.

Honestly? I can’t blame Thomas for that. When he comes back he’s going to want there to be a show. And if he’s playing less than 20 minutes it’s hard to do that.