Isaiah Thomas on scouting for the Boston Celtics at the 2026 NBA Combine
"It brought me back to when I went through the NBA draft process of trying to impress a team," said IT.
The NBA combine is the first up-close look a lot of teams have at prospective draft targets each year. Scouts may be able to follow the live game action and even scrimmages of top college and overseas prospects, but the combine provides a window into several areas of a player, their capabilities, and measurements that aren't available otherwise. And there is also the ability to speak with these prospects that helps in learning about the character of those players, all of which was like candy to a baby for new Boston Celtics scout Isaiah Thomas.
The former King in the Fourth recently spoke about his experience in Chicago scouting for Boston for the 2026 NBA Draft on his "Point Game" podcast . "It was dope because I got to sit in on the interviews which are very important," explained IT "It brought me back to when I went through the NBA draft process of trying to impress a team," he continued. "All you need is one team to fall in love with you, and to go through that interview process as a player is hectic.
" "You're a little nervous, you don't know what they know actually," said Thomas. You know that they know a lot, but you don't know what they're going to ask. " "So just being in that in that space as obviously not the player and being able to ask questions and really relate to these kids because they know me – they don't always know anybody in the front office.
They know the face of the organization, but they don't know everybody else that that's involved in the front office. So, it's easy for me, man. I'm able to chop it up with these guys because I can relate to them.