There are two things that come to Washington Wizards head coach Scott Brooks' mind when he's asked to describe Isaiah Thomas.

Brooks says Thomas is “tough as nails” and “a winner.” The Wizards signed Thomas in free agency this summer and will have him battle Ish Smith for the starting point guard spot in training camp:

“I always look at him and I see toughness. He is tough as nails. And the thing that even before the toughness I see he's a winner,” Brooks told Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “I've seen him in Sacramento and I remember this firsthand. We're up like 20 in Oklahoma. We were rolling, we were beating a lot of teams that year. And we're at home and he's with Sacramento and they were struggling. He came in and almost won the game because he has no quit in him.

“And so I always like watching point guard because I played the position. I like to see how players respond in tough situations. You can go into a game and just say, ‘You know what? This game is over. I'm just going to jack it up, take bad shots. It's about me, I'm gonna get my stats up for my next team.' But coaches don't look for that. They want to see guys playing the right way through the last to last minute of a game, and his toughness I marvel at it. He gets knocked on his butt a lot and he gets back up and he has a little swagger to him. He'll talk back to you and talk some trash to you. I like guys that compete. You can always slow guys down, but when you have a guy that has a high motor of competitive spirit it helps the rest of your team, and he will be a big part of our team.”

The Wizards will be without All-Star John Wall likely for the entire 2019-20 season. The team signed Isaiah Thomas and Ish Smith in free agency this summer as a result.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
joe mazzulla looking focused on a TD Garden background with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to either side of him

Daniel Donabedian ·

lex Sarr, Reed Sheppard, Cody Williams, Donovan Clingan all together with question marks all around the graphic. The background is a NBA Draft board.

Bailey Bassett ·

Nic Claxton in the middle, Two mystery players around him, Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole around them, and Washington Wizards wallpaper in the background

Enzo Flojo ·

Thomas averaged 8.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 12 regular-season games with the Denver Nuggets last season while shooting 34.3 percent from the field, 27.9 percent from beyond the arc and 63.0 percent from the charity stripe.

With the Wizards, IT has a great opportunity to revive his NBA career.