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The Brooklyn Nets’ treatment of Cam Thomas could belie their true sentiments.
“I would be surprised if the Nets let him go,” one rival general manager tells Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney.
“The relationship with the Nets is a weird one because they seem really reluctant to actually play him. Even after the trades. There is no question that the guy has talent but they’re worried about whether he has what it takes between the ears. Every time he gets one of those 30-point games, they’re happy because the kid is good but they’re also like, ‘Oh no, this is going to blow up his ego.'”
Thomas’ playing time has been sporadic all season but dropped significantly after the trade deadline. His ego has not been an issue, though the second-year guard has expressed a desire to get more playing team, though he was clear just whose decision that is to make.
“Hopefully,” Thomas said after the Nets’ regular season finale via NBA.com on April 9. “But that’s not in my control. That’s their decision. So I don’t know.”
No cooling @24_camthomas down 🔥
For his part, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has insisted that Thomas is important.
Nets Still Value Cam Thomas
“I’ll continue to reiterate how important he is to our group,” Vaughn said via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic during a teleconference with media on February 22. “What I think Cam can be is a bonafide, efficient, and productive scorer for us when asked upon. He’s a guy that can shot create, but we don’t anticipate him playing 40 minutes as he did in those games. So the big part of our whole group is we have depth and so why not lean into that? …At the end of the day, it’s about the entire group, and I’m gonna continue to push that culture more than anything else.”
Vaughn said they don’t need offense versus Philly as much as they need their shots to fall.
“I didn’t think we were struggling to get looks, the ball just didn’t go in.”
Jacque Vaughn was asked about the possibility of playing Cam Thomas with the offense struggling in the second half:
He’s also made it clear that playing Thomas – a one-way player with limited positional versatility at this point in his fledgling career – means taking away from one of the more proven veterans.
“It’s always at the disposal of someone not getting minutes, and so who is that,” Vaughn asked rhetorically, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post on April 19. “Is that Spencer [Dinwiddie]? Is that Cam Johnson? Is that Mikal Bridges? Everyone is available to play it and in the wheelhouse to be prepared if their number is called.”
Again, though, the executive was clear that, even with potential interest around the league, Thomas remains in the Nets’ plans as they figure to undergo a makeover to some degree this offseason.
The general manager was speaking in terms of when Thomas hits restricted free agency after the 2024 season.
But that doesn’t mean a team won’t sniff around this summer.
Teams Could ‘Take a Gamble’ on Thomas
“It won’t hurt to take a shot on him…Miami is one that needs to take a gamble like that, Dallas is another. Or he could be a development guy in a place like Portland.”
The Miami Heat are tied 1-1 with the Milwaukee Bucks in their first-round matchup and just lost Tyler Herro for the postseason barring a trip to the NBA Finals to a broken hand. Without him, they struggle to generate offense which could lead to a push for more reliable options this offseason, a bill that Thomas certainly fits.
It would be interesting to see the Dallas Mavericks make another overture for a Nets player considering their trade for Kyrie Irving left them with limited assets to further build around him and Luka Doncic.
Thomas’ appeal to the Portland Trail Blazers would likely hinge on Damian Lillard who has ramped up the pressure for the organization to pick a direction.
Perhaps that direction is with the Nets.
Any deal for the seven-time All-Star would seem to have to include Thomas, the former 27th-overall pick even with the Blazers rostering their own dynamite scorer in Anfernee Simons. But Portland does have experience with a score-first backcourt.
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Rival GM Sends Strong Message About Nets’ Cam Thomas