Had the old rules still been in place allowing early entry prospects to withdraw up to 10 days before the NBA draft, Washington's Isaiah Thomas says he probably would have merely tested the waters this year.
Instead, the junior guard is entering the draft without a safety net because he doesn't believe he can get sufficient feedback by the new accelerated May 8 deadline.
Thomas said Thursday he will not hire an agent immediately but cautioned that's merely a formality. Asked on a conference call with reporters if he had definitely played his final game in a Washington jersey, Thomas unequivocally said that he was leaving and that this was his "goodbye."
"I don't think testing the waters gives you enough time to focus on doing the best job you possibly can do," said Thomas, who is two quarters shy of graduating and plans to one day finish his degree. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to get to the NBA, be really focused and have no distractions."
While most mock drafts project Thomas as a second-round pick, the feedback Thomas and Washington coach Lorenzo Romar have received from NBA scouts and executives has been more favorable than that. Thomas said he'd heard he could be selected anywhere from the middle of the first round to the early second round, evaluations he still hopes to improve upon during workouts with NBA teams.
Regardless of where Thomas gets selected, there are several reasons the 5-foot-8 guard might be better off leaving now rather than next year.
His stock is high after excelling at the point guard role the second half of this season. He'd likely have to return to shooting guard if he came back as a senior because of the arrival of freshman Tony Wroten and the return of injured point guard Abdul Gaddy. And Thomas doesn't believe there are many point guards in this draft who should be evaluated ahead of him.
"I feel like with the guards coming out this year, I have a really good chance of going high in this draft," Thomas said. "I feel like I can showcase my talent and I don't feel it's a really strong draft class with the point guards this year."
The early departure of Thomas means Washington must rebuild without its leading scorer, best distributor and undeniable leader. Thomas led the Huskies to back-to-back Pac-10 tournament titles and appearances in the Sweet 16 last year and the round of 32 this year.
Since Washington also loses Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday in addition to Thomas, some of this year's role players must become stars for the Huskies to contend in the Pac-10 again.
A backcourt nucleus of Wroten, Gaddy, Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross is a very solid, diverse group. What the Huskies will need in the frontcourt is for Darnell Gant to continue to improve, for Aziz N'Diaye to blossom into a back-to-the-basket scorer instead of just a shot blocker and rebounder or for a junior college gem or late-blooming recruit to become available in the spring.
Thomas acknowledged his decision to leave was not an easy one.
"I've had the best three years in my life playing for coach Romar," he said. "Leaving the University of Washington was the hardest thing I've done in my life."
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