Thomas Will Win Nets Bet If He Can Continue To Show He’s More Than A Scorer

Dale Zanine—Imagn Images

The Nets made the correct business decision to hold off on extending Cam Thomas’ contract before Monday’s deadline. The fourth-year guard’s approximately $12 million cap hold next offseason is far less than Thomas’ market value, so the difference is extra cap space General Manager Sean Marks will get to play with next summer to improve the roster.

Thomas will end up in restricted free agency, but A) Marks’ history suggests that he does not lose the players he wishes to keep for nothing, and B) The only team currently projected to have the necessary cap space to sign Thomas outright is…the Brooklyn Nets.

So Thomas will get paid eventually. As to how much, that depends on his willingness to grow his game beyond scoring. And if Brooklyn’s season-opening 120-116 defeat in Atlanta on Wednesday night was any indication, I wouldn’t shortchange him.

The box score highlight from State Farm Arena will obviously be Thomas’ 36 points, 17 of which were poured in during Brooklyn’s furious rally in the final five minutes. Thomas was patient—Atlanta wing Dyson Daniels was an absolute pest sticking with him around screens and creating deflections with his reach—and efficient (14-for-27 from the field, including 7-for-13 from deep). He scored from every level and off a variety of play sequences. There were some possessions that contained the dribbling and probing that Nets rookie Head Coach Jordi Fernandez has said he wants to limit, but there was more cutting and attacks off the catch.

But the most noticeable difference with this performance from past point explosions was that the rest of Thomas’ stat line wasn’t incomplete. He registered 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in 34 minutes. I thought his compete level on defense was much improved. He dove on the floor and committed the hard foul when appropriate. In his first regular season postgame press conference, Fernandez praised Thomas’ physicality on both ends. (Note: NBA.com tracking data wasn’t available at time of posting.)

Of course, it’s not enough for Thomas to showcase his complete package in just one game in a contract year—the measure of his next deal will be directly related to his measure of consistency in these other basketball aspects throughout the season. I still think his assist rate has room to increase a couple of ticks; it would have been helpful if his teammates had knocked down a few more shots off his passes on Wednesday.

Defense, though, is always going to be a struggle. Thomas was victimized several times by the Hawks in one-on-one situations, which is something that’s going to happen when you’re 6-foot 3 and lack the quick feet to stay in front of NBA drivers. He also took responsibility for failing to come up with a missed Hawks free throw with 36 seconds remaining.

However, he made up for that misread bounce with a driving layup and a pair of tough three-pointers to give the Nets a bit of hope until the final buzzer.     

For Nets fans, hope might be in short supply this season. Brooklyn is set up to be bottom feeders, with most fans on board with the race to maximize the team’s odds for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. In other words, losing is good.

That’s a long way from when Thomas was a rookie playing with future Hall-of-Famers Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden following his No. 27 overall selection in the 2021 Draft. Thomas was the last player in that night’s Green Room due to doubts about whether he was anything more than a volume scorer at LSU. However, anyone doing a re-Draft of that class, which had 11 players sign rookie extensions before Monday, would put Thomas in a lottery slot.

Based on those contract announcements and assuming Thomas can continue on this path, my guess is that the AAV on his next deal will exceed $30 million. Houston’s Jalen Green, that year’s former No. 2 overall pick who might be Thomas’ closest comparison, signed an unusual 3-year, $106 million contract that included a player option after Year 2. Thomas has better offensive numbers, but Green is generally considered the superior all-around player.    

At the moment. How ironic would it be if Thomas keeps showing progress in the non-scoring departments this season and ends up costing the Nets significantly more money than if they had just extended him on Monday? Actually, I’m sure the Nets, their fans, and Thomas would all be fine with that.