At 18, he was a 3-star recruit from Tacoma with more than 90 players ranked ahead of him. Three years later, he was first-team All-Pac-10 and an honorable mention All-American.
At 22, he was the last pick of the NBA draft and third choice of the Sacramento Kings. Three years later, he was posting more than 20 points and six assists per game.
At 25, he was dealt to Phoenix for a trade exception, and then shipped to Boston for a draft pick. Two years later, he was averaging nearly 29 points while leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring.
Every time someone doubts former Huskies point guard Isaiah Thomas, he makes them look silly. So what was Celtics general manager Danny Ainge thinking?
Tuesday, Ainge traded Thomas, Jae Crowder, and a likely top-three draft pick to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving. He dealt a man with the seventh-best player efficiency rating in the NBA for a guy with the 23rd best.
Sure, there are factors such as age and health that made Irving attractive to the 17-time league champs. But come on, Danny. Have you learned nothing from the past?
There wasn't anything fluky about the season Thomas had last year. The franchise-record 43 consecutive games with at least 20 points? The true shooting percentage of .625? The 28.9 points and 5.9 assists? Those weren't aberrations _ those were the results of Thomas' maturation.
The NBA has produced plenty of players whose ability to wow crowds overshadow their ability to win games. Allen Iverson had years like this, as did Pete Maravich and Vince Carter. But despite the 28-year-old Thomas being the most entertaining player to wear a Celtics jersey in years, he has developed into one of the NBA's most dominant offensive forces.
You want traditional stats? Thomas' scoring average last year was behind only Russell Westbrook (31.6 ppg) and James Harden (29.1), but Isaiah took 468 fewer shots than Westbrook and 60 fewer than Harden. He also shot the fifth most free throws in the league _ remarkable for a dude standing 5 feet 9 _ and made 90.9 percent of them.
You want advanced stats? How about offensive win shares? That's the number used to project how many wins a player's offense adds to his team's total. Well, Thomas had 10.9 offensive win shares last season _ the second most in the league. Irving's 7.4 was 17th.
In Boston's Brad Stevens, Thomas finally got an NBA coach who centered the offense around him despite his diminutive frame. The result was Isaiah leading the Celtics (53-29) to the top seed in the Eastern Conference despite being the lone All-Star.
Night after night, opponents knew Thomas would be the focal point of the offense, but still couldn't stop him. Game after game, foes knew Thomas would be in isolation in the fourth quarter, but still couldn't slow him down.
Still, in a league full of redwoods, it has to be hard for execs to think a man standing 69 inches can be the frontman for a championship-caliber team. So the Celtics traded the two-time All-Star. Mistake.
Perhaps Ainge was intrigued that Irving was three years younger than Thomas, and that he could sign him to a long-term deal when his contract is up in two years. But that fact that he included the Nets' draft pick suggests the team is in "win now" mode _ and if you want to win now, you keep Thomas.
People see what Irving has done in the Finals over the past two years and think he is better than Thomas. He isn't. The statistics suggest Thomas is the more efficient player, and that's without playing with LeBron James, who opens the floor for everyone.
But what about defense? you might ask. Yeah, Thomas is a liability on that end of the floor, but Irving might be one of the few point guards in the NBA who's worse. According to basketball-reference.com, Thomas was more productive than Irving on D last year. Boston isn't getting an upgrade there.
The only other factor would be health, and given the hip injury Thomas suffered in the playoffs last season, that's a legitimate concern. But even if he won't be ready for training camp, as some of have predicted, the Cavs only need Thomas to be 100 percent when the playoffs roll around.
Sorry, but Cleveland won this trade. Thomas, Crowder and an unprotected first-round pick for Irving? Way too much.
Like just about everybody before him, Ainge slept on Isaiah Thomas. And history has proved that when you sleep on Thomas, he gives you nightmares.
