Isaiah Thomas Opens Up About Trade, Cites Durant Signing With Warriors

On Aug. 22, the Celtics traded Isaiah Thomas to the Cavs.

The deal became officially official on Aug. 30.

[RELATED: Durant's thoughts on Kyrie trade: 'When you're around LeBron James...']

On Wednesday morning, Thomas wrote a story for The Players' Tribune, entitled " This is for Boston."

An excerpt:

At the end of the day, these deals just come down to one thing: business. So it's no hard feelings on that end. I'm a grown man, and I know what I got into when I joined this league - and so far it's been more blessings than curses. I'm not sitting here, writing this, because I feel I was wronged. I wasn't wronged. It was Boston's right to trade me.

Plus, in a lot of ways, I actually think this was a good lesson. Not only for me, but for the league as a whole. And for the fans and the media, too, you know, just in terms of how they talk about guys changing teams. I was thinking about that last year with KD and his free agency - about how people gave him such a hard time for doing what he felt was best for him and his future. How they turned him into a villain, just for doing what was his right to do as a free agent in this league. Suddenly, it was, "Oh, he's selfish," or, "Oh, he's a coward." Suddenly, just for doing business on his end, and doing right by himself, he was portrayed as this bad guy.

But that's what I think my trade can show people. I want them to see how my getting traded - just like that, without any warning - by the franchise that I scratched and clawed for, and bled for, and put my everything on the line for? That's why people need to fix their perspective. It's like, man - with a few exceptions, unless we're free agents, 99 times out of 100, it's the owners with the power. So when players are getting moved left and right, and having their lives changed without any say-so, and it's no big deal … but then the handful of times it flips, and the player has control … then it's some scandal? Just being honest, but - to me, that says a lot about where we are as a league, and even as a society. And it says a lot about how far we still have to go.

And like I said, there's no hard feelings. But I just hope that the next time a player leaves in free agency, and anybody wants to jump on him or write a critical story or a nasty tweet about him, maybe now they'll think twice. Maybe they'll look around the league, look at a case like mine, and remember that loyalty - it's just a word. And it's a powerful word if you want it to be. But man … when it comes to business, it ain't nothing to count on.

[RELATED: Kevin Durant likes tweet about player loyalty to NBA franchises]

After nine seasons with the Oklahoma City franchise, Durant chose to leave.

He essentially signed a one-year deal with the Warriors in 2016, and could have left this summer. But he chose to return on what is basically another one-year deal (player option in Year 2).

Durant has the ability to sign elsewhere next July if he thinks it's the best move for him.

Thomas will have that option next summer when he will become an unrestricted free agent.

It's the way the system works.

And the system allows teams to trade players on a whim.

"People gotta understand. Like, even with all of this being said … man … it still hurt. It still hurt bad," Thomas explained in his letter. "And I hope people can understand that when I say it hurt, it isn't directed at anyone. I'm not saying I was hurt by anyone, or wronged by anyone, or betrayed. I'm just saying, man, I'm only human.

"I may act like a tough guy on the court. And I may seem like I have ice in my veins when I'm competing. But at the same time - it ain't ice, really. I got blood and I got a heart like everyone else."

Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders and a Web Producer at NBC Sports Bay Area. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller

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