The NBA's next big little man?
Former Washington Huskies point guard Isaiah Thomas took part in a pre-draft workout with the Sacramento Kings this weekend. As he’s made tracks across the country working out for various teams the comparisons have been coming in favoring him to a certain lightning-in-a-bottle spark plug for the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks.
Jason Jones from the Sacramento Bee caught up with Thomas at the workout, who had this to say about the comparisons:
“As of right now, a lot of teams say I can come in and be a J.J. Barea-type. I feel the way I’ve progressed with my shooting ability, I feel like I’m more of a Damon Stoudamire type. But I love the comparisons to J.J. Barea. I see what he’s doing right now, and I believe I can do that.”
“You can’t hand-check, so small guards with speed are taking over. “Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook aren’t small, but they’ve got speed, and it’s hard to keep a guy in front of you. So I feel like I can use that to my advantage.”
Thomas has already received some pointers from NBA stars past and present from the Seattle area. Washington native and current Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry as well as Seattle native and Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Jamal Crawford have both lent a hand in prepping the youngster for life in the NBA. So has nine-time NBA Defensive First Teamer and Seattle Supersonics legend “The Glove” Gary Payton.
The 5’9” Thomas was the top man for the Huskies in his junior season. He dropped 16.8ppg , handed out 6.1 assists, and swiped 1.3 steals per game. He was a member of the Pac-10 All-Conference First Team after both his sophomore and junior seasons. Thomas was also named Pac-10 tournament MVP both seasons. He was the fourth Husky player to earn all-conference honors three times. Thomas finished his career ranked sixth in school history with 1,721 points, third with 415 assists, eighth with 122 steals, and third 164 three’s made.
It’s fitting Thomas would end up a point guard after being named after two-time NBA champion and Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas. He’s got the position and height to resemble J.J. Barea. Early impressions from scouts are that his game matches up favorably. Now all he has to do is get one of these to go on his arm.
