Report: Cavs targeting early January return for Isaiah Thomas

The Cleveland Cavaliers are planning for Isaiah Thomas to make his season debut in the first week of January, league sources told Shams Charania of The Vertical.

As it happens, the Cavaliers are scheduled to battle Thomas' former team, the Boston Celtics, on Jan. 3.

The 28-year-old Thomas has made "significant progress" in his recovery from his hip injury and could conceivably play today if needed, Charania reports, but the Cavaliers want him to be able to stay in the lineup long term once he returns.

Thomas is coming off the best season of his career, in which he averaged 28.9 points and 5.9 assists while hitting 37.9 percent from deep. He helped Boston to the No. 1 seed and was named to the All-NBA Second Team for his efforts. Thomas played through his hip injury for months before he finally sat out.

Despite all that, the Celtics pounced on a deal to swap Thomas and other assets for a disgruntled Kyrie Irving this summer.