A Dominant Summer League Performance Doesn’t Prove Nets Thomas Is Ready To Take On NBA’s Best--Yet
New York Post
Watching Cam Thomas perform in the NBA Summer League this past week, I couldn’t help but find myself channeling former Nets TV analyst Bill Raftery, with shrieks of “Onions!” following each of Thomas’ clutch buckets.
Thomas, 19, surely doesn’t lack confidence to take the big shot. Or any shot. Brooklyn’s first round pick (27th overall) led the Summer League in scoring with 27 points per game over the four games he played prior to sitting out Tuesday night’s 86-72 loss to Toronto in the finale. Thomas used the tournament to showcase his excellent one-on-one skills, with an innate ability to draw contact and get to the foul line (he finished second in Las Vegas with 8.3 free throws made per game).
And he was dominant in crunch time. In a three-game span, including a back-to-back last week versus the Bucks and the Wizards, Thomas averaged 15 fourth-quarter points on a 55/56/90 shooting split. He single-handedly saved the Washington game last Thursday with multiple three-pointers to take the affair into double overtime and then won it in the sudden death session with a one-legged 3-ball from the left side after momentarily losing his handle on the isolation move (probably getting away with a double-dribble, but still).
Thomas followed that feat up by scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter, including 11 points in the final 1:44, to allow Brooklyn to hold off San Antonio, 104-100 on Sunday. By then, the Nets had seen enough.
While Summer League play is a long way from life on real NBA courts, it wouldn’t be shocking if Thomas proved to be another one of Nets General Manager Sean Marks’ late first-round draft steals, like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. However, if you’re on record telling me that Thomas will be a factor in Brooklyn’s success THIS season, I’d say, “Whoa there, young fella.”
Thomas’ skillset overlaps with that of the Nets’ three best players—James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant. As we just saw this past postseason, The Big 3 will be playing heavy minutes in games that matter. I wrote last week about how free agent acquisition Patty Mills is in the same boat, since it will be hard for Brooklyn to match up against its bigger rivals if Irving and Mills share the court.
Thomas could very well be useful if/when Harden and/or Irving are absent in any game, but he’s not yet good enough to be a difference-maker versus the stiffest competition as an injury replacement.
Again, he’s 19, so that’s not problematic. But at this stage, he is NOT what some called “a pure shooter” who could help space the floor; he’s a volume scorer. I read someone compare him to Irving, which is just ridiculous. Irving is coming off a 50/40/90 SEASON. Fourth quarters notwithstanding, Thomas went 42/36/85 in the Summer League, which is in line with his LSU college efficiency.
While Thomas improved on his playmaking as the tournament went on, making some neat passes, his decision-making still has a long way to go, as he finished with a nearly 1:2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively, he has some heft to his body to guard on-ball, but not enough to take on NBA 5s in Brooklyn’s switch-heavy scheme. In addition, he is known for losing track of his assignments, which is common with most rookies.
If we were back in the Kenny Atkinson development era, we should all be excited to watch Thomas, and some of the other Summer League Nets, grow up over the course of the season. But those days are behind us and Brooklyn is in win-now mode.
A Nets squad with a healthy Big 3 will be tough to beat. However, if, like last postseason, injuries rear their ugly head, Thomas just isn’t ready to come to the rescue.
So I join all Nets in their delight over what transpired last week--for what it was. What happened in Vegas will just have to stay in Vegas—for now.
Coming tomorrow: Some words on the other participating Nets in the Summer League.