Isiah Thomas: Isaiah Thomas is emotionally 'wounded' after Cavs trade

Isaiah Thomas was fiercely loyal to the Boston Celtics, and for his loyalty, the two-time All-Star was rewarded with a trade to the rival Cleveland Cavaliers.

His namesake, Isiah Thomas, was recently in contact with the guard, and what Isiah heard was a man devastated after being shipped off seemingly out of the blue.

"I spoke to Isaiah yesterday. Emotionally, he’s hurt. Emotionally, he’s wounded," Isaiah told The MMA Hour's Ariel Helwani. "Now from a basketball standard, he and Kyrie Irving, this will be great for them; they both will do well. But you know, it really was like a punch in the gut because it came out of nowhere. Kyrie was expecting the trade, he was prepared for it. But talking to Isaiah the other night, now he’s scrambling to find out where his kids are going to go to school, trying to find a place to live, and it was just so unexpected for him. And the thing the really just kind of pulled at my heartstrings was, you know, he gave his heart and soul to the Celtics; he gave them everything.

"It’s a business and we all understand it’s a business, but to have it happen in such a way for him, I think it really hurt him. And I think it’s going to be difficult for him to trust again, to give that trust, that loyalty, that love to another organization. And I think the Cavaliers are definitely going to have to do some relationship mending to get him back to the point where he loves being where he’s at. He’s a small guy. The thing that gets him over is his love and his passion. If those things are kind of missing a little bit, it’s going to be hard. So Cleveland has some relationship things that they’ve got to do to build that trust."

Related: Celtics' Brown calls fans who burned Isaiah jerseys 'pathetic'

Isaiah endeared himself to the Boston faithful in his two-and-a-half-seasons with the squad, playing well above his diminutive 5-foot-9 stature to become one of the game's top scorers (28.9 points per game in 2016-17).

He is dealing with a bad hip he elected not to have surgery on, and with just one year remaining on his deal before he's eligible to sign a max contract, there were multiple business reasons supporting moving him.

- With h/t to SB Nation