CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In a flash of headbands and pointed fingers, Isaiah Thomas' basketball career in Cleveland has ended after 15 games, 65 missed 3-pointers and 145 complaints about what he thought was wrong with what used to be the best basketball team in the East.

From a sadly strong field of nominees, Thomas' crash from a 28-points-per-game scorer and MVP candidate in a Boston to 69 inches of offensive ineptitude and defensive indifference with the Cavaliers qualifies as the Greatest Sports Flameout in Cleveland history.

Too young to be washed-up, too old to be an unknown risk, Thomas, aided by his hip injury, morphed from a potential sidekick on a title contender to "please trade him for anything" in record time.

This follows a football season in which the Browns traded for a former playoff quarterback in Brock Osweiler and then cut him in order to pay him $16 million to not be a Brown. And now Osweiler, who never played a regular season game in Cleveland, can point to someone that had a worse career here than he did.

Who had the better career in Cleveland? — Doug Lesmerises (@DougLesmerises) February 8, 2018

As far as I know Brock never accused a teammate of faking sick so brock — muhammad ibn cernovich al-amriki (@RoveUh) February 8, 2018

Thomas was such a problem in Cleveland that his presence helped push GM Koby Altman to not only trade him but to blow up the entire roster, sending six Cavs out at the trade deadline and bringing four new ones in.

If Thomas had looked like a fit, the Cavs don't do that. Some fear trading Thomas and Channing Frye to the Los Angeles Lakers, who opened valuable cap space, will actually clear the path for the Lakers to make a run at LeBron James as a free agent this summer.

Dealing Thomas may increase the chance that LeBron is Gone. And I know what you're thinking.

Worth it. Just get IT out of here.

But before we crown Thomas the Flameout King, let's run through some other candidates for greatest flameouts in Cleveland sports, thanks to some excellent suggestions on Twitter.

The criteria is several-fold:

* How good was the player before and/or after he was in Cleveland?

* How bad or irrelevant was the player in Cleveland?

* How short of a tenure did the player have in which to establish, very quickly, his ineptitude or irrelevance?

* How delusional was the player about his ability, i.e., how much worse was his play than his talk?

* Injury is a factor, but if injury is truly the only reason the player did not succeed, that's not really what we're looking for. Thomas, obviously, had injury issues, but his innate ability to irritate fans and teammates while obliviously playing poorly after his injury is what makes him such a strong contender for this crown.

Here we go. Let the Flameout battles begin.

* Thomas vs. Osweiler

This is mine, so we'll start here. Osweiler never played a regular-season game for the Browns, which is a high level of irrelevance. He started seven games for the Super Bowl champion Broncos in 2015, then signed a $72 million contract in Houston. That's a high level of expectation. But the Browns knew he was bad when they traded for him, and he was just a throw-in with a draft pick. Much more was expected of Thomas.

* Thomas vs. Kenny Britt

Kenny britt — paul meyers (@pmeyersgolf) February 8, 2018

Britt's Super Bowl gloating over getting cut by a winless team and landing as a meaningless piece with the New England Patriots was the height of ego-inflated bluster. Going from 68 catches and 1,002 yards with St. Louis in 2016 to 20 catches for 256 yards in 12 games with the Browns is an impressively precipitous fall. This is close. Britt's lack of self-awareness matches Thomas, and Britt didn't have an injury excuse. But Thomas was a far better player previously, so he wins out. But barely.

* Thomas vs. John Rocker

John rocker — Adam Klimo (@klimocleve) February 8, 2018

After saving 81 games the previous two-and-a-half seasons, Rocker was traded to the Indians in June 2001 and saved just four games in 38 appearances with a 5.45 ERA. He blew a save the day after flying to Atlanta for a Black Sabbath concert. He threw water at Seattle fans during the playoffs, then tried to deflect criticism by bringing up an issue about fellow reliever Bob Wickman. As Paul Hoynes wrote after Rocker, his bloated ERA and his lousy attitude were dumped on Texas in the offseason, his Cleveland stay was "short, bad and noisy."

Thomas was never that level of noisy here. But while the Indians traded solid pitchers in Steve Reed and Steve Karsay to get Rocker, they weren't Kyrie Iriving. So the price for Thomas gives him the flameout edge. But if you want to consider Rocker still the King of Cleveland Flameouts, you'd have a case.

* Thomas vs. Andrew Bogut

Bogut, no question — BROWNS BROWNS BROWNS (@draftnik1) February 8, 2018

Bogut's Cavs career consisted of two fouls and 58 seconds of action after he was acquired last season. Then he broke his leg. Thomas broke the Cavs. Flameout edge to Thomas.

* Thomas vs. Andre Rison

Andre Rison — Mike O'Neill (@mikeoneill73) February 8, 2018

Bud Shaw once wrote in reflecting on Rison's signing by the Browns for the 1995 season, "Rison's signing showed the depths of ownership's despair. Art Modell had to take out a loan in his wife's name to gather the $17 million he paid Rison. And for what? A head-case receiver."

After averaging 85 catches and 1,127 yards the previous five seasons in Atlanta, Rison caught 47 passes for 701 yards in his one year in Cleveland in 1995. And he was booed a lot.

"I get more negative comments than anybody in the league," Rison said after what would be the final Browns home game for four years. "In fact, I'm probably just as disliked as Art is in this stadium."

Well, at least Thomas never compared himself to Art Modell. Strong case for Rison, but he did mange to last a whole season.

There were some other solid nominations:

* Keith Hernandez, the five-time All-Star with more then 2,100 hits, failed in Cleveland, but he was well into the backside of his career before a final season with the Indians. He hit .200 in 43 games in 1990 and spent the entire 1991 season on the disabled list after signing a two-year, $3 million deal that was pretty rich at the time. In 2012, Paul Hoynes named him the Indians' worst free agent signing to that point.

Jeff Garcia — CynicalNegro (@nwdrone410) February 8, 2018

* Jeff Garcia was called by Bud Shaw after the 2005 season the worst free agent signing in Browns history. A four-time Pro Bowler, he was 3-7 in his 10 starts in 2005, throwing 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His presence helped the Browns decide to not draft Ben Roethlisberger. A compelling case, but his three wins in 10 games for the Browns looks pretty good right now.

Jeff Kent — Tardy, The Last Tardigrade (@LastTardigrade) February 8, 2018

* Jeff Kent was picked up from the Mets in the midseason deal for Carlos Baerga in 1996, then flipped that offseason to San Francisco for Matt Williams. In Cleveland, Kent hit three home runs in 102 at-bats while hitting .265. In San Francisco, he won an MVP and averaged 29 home runs a season while hitting nearly .300 for six years. He didn't flame out here as much as he caught fire after he left.

From Wayne Garland to Jeff Juden, Jiri Welsch to Shaq, Juan Gonzalez to Dwayne Bowe, Brady Anderson to Jack Parkman (yes, the Major League II character), thanks for all the nominations.

But consider, one final time, the athlete to which Cleveland is saying goodbye.

Thomas wasn't the focal point of the Kyrie Irving deal (the Brooklyn pick was) and his injury was documented before he arrived. But Thomas still brought a sense of hope that quickly vanished once he hit the court. The highlight of his Cavs career was the way he clapped from the bench during the 36 games he missed when he arrived. He went from a max contract contender to an expendable expiring contract.

Final line: 15 games, 14 starts, 27.1 minutes per game, 14.7 points, 4.5 assists, 2.7 turnovers, 36 percent shooting, 25 percent 3-point shooting, a 7-8 record, bad defense, locker room disruption, questionable effort and quite possibly the biggest flameout in Cleveland sports history.