LOS ANGELES -- The Isaiah Thomas-Cavaliers reunion is set for Sunday.

"Was he here long enough to call it a reunion?" one Cavs player joked at practice Saturday.

Well, call it what you will, Thomas will come off the bench for the Lakers against a Cleveland team that traded him here after just 15 games.

Not that anyone on the Cavs' side thinks Thomas was done wrong. The 5-9, two-time All-Star guard who was the centerpiece of a trade with Boston for Kyrie Irving last summer struggled mightily during his time in Cleveland.

First, he was out until January nursing multiple hip injuries from his last season with the Celtics. When Thomas joined the Cavs' lineup, everything went wrong. He tried to play his way into shape and shot a career-worst .361 from the field.

Thomas' missed shots exposed him defensively. LeBron James and Kevin Love saw their production go down, too. A toxic environment in Cleveland's locker room developed, as Thomas challenged everyone from Love to the coaching staff to the team's commitment to defense.

"I don't even listen to the comments so it don't matter to me," coach Tyronn Lue said.

The Cavs' issues have been well documented, and they were not solely Thomas' fault. And the root of everything for Thomas was those hip injuries, which kept him from doing the driving, slashing and shooting that made him such a dynamic player for the Celtics.

"I wanted him to do well," said Cavs forward Jeff Green, who still communicates with Thomas. "I watched him from his early on days in Sacramento and Phoenix. And what he did in Boston was remarkable for that organization, and I wanted him to succeed. I wanted him to get what he deserves, and also, that max deal and being on a winning team and winning a championship.

"But, you know, it didn't happen, it didn't work out, and I'm still rooting for him to do well. Just not against us tomorrow."

Thomas, 29, will be a free agent at season's end. He's played 11 games for the Lakers, all off the bench. He's averaging 15.5 points, shooting .392 from the field and .323 from 3-point range, and averaging 5.4 assists.

All of those numbers are better than what he was putting up in Cleveland (so is his 110 defensive rating, which is bad but not as bad as it was with the Cavs), though the improvement in each category is marginal.

Thomas scored a season-high 29 on March 1 against the Heat. Since that game, though, he's shooting 21-of-62 (.339) from the field.

Green said Thomas is no longer "second guessing his injury," which suggests that was a problem for him with the Cavs.

"He's great," Green said. "(The trade) was a refresher. He feels like he's back to mentally to where he wants to be. He's been playing well, he's been playing great, and you know, he's finally getting comfortable with himself with the injury. I don't think he's second guessing. I think he's just out there playing and he's doing really good."

The Cavs traded Thomas, Channing Frye, and their No. 1 pick in 2018 for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. Therefor, Sunday's game is a big deal for the new Cavs, too, as they get their first crack at the organization that gave up on them.

Nance and Clarkson have been the better of the four players Cleveland acquired at the trade deadline. Nance is starting at center right now and is averaging 11.9 points and 8.5 rebounds.

Clarkson is still the NBA's second-leading scorer off the bench (14.2 ppg) and scored 21 Friday against the Clippers.

"I'm not going to make it a big deal," Clarkson said. "It's just another game. But it's going to be fun to play in. Just being here back in L.A., to be around my friends, my family is here as well, so just come in and represent and try to get a win."

You of course remember the video tribute fiasco involving Thomas and the Celtics. Boston wanted to give him one when Cleveland played there Jan. 3, but Thomas was out that night because he was prohibited from playing on consecutive nights and he asked for the tribute when he would play and his family would be there.

So the tribute was pushed back to Feb. 11, except Paul Pierce's jersey retirement was that day, which turned into a thing, and the tribute was canceled. Then the Cavs traded Thomas anyway, so he wasn't even with them in Boston.

Clarkson was asked if he wanted a video tribute from the Lakers, and he said "Oh, hell no."

"Nah, nah, nah, bro," Clarkson said. "Nah, nah. I'm cool. Me coming in the game and saying what's up, I think that's good enough for me."

A week after the trade, Nance was back at Staples Center for the slam dunk contest, which he nearly won. And of course he and Clarkson played for the Cavs here Friday in the loss to the Clippers.

"I've just been so occupied with what we're doing here, honestly I haven't thought about this game until we started preparing for this game," Nance said. "I definitely think that being back in Staples Center for All-Star weekend was a nice little reintroduction.

"Whether it was with the Lakers or the Cavs, playing the Clippers was still a road game," Nance said. "Tomorrow is going to be the real one and when the court's all purple and gold and I'm not wearing it, it will be interesting."

The Lakers didn't practice Saturday. They lost to Denver on Friday, and Thomas scored 10 on 5-of-13 shooting.

Thomas took to Twitter Saturday to encourage, well, someone to "stay positive."

Stay positive, control what YOU can control and keep grindin! — Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) March 10, 2018

It’ll come back around and when the opportunity does I’ll be MORE than ready to take it back to the TOP! #ThatSLOWgrind — Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) March 10, 2018