Latest news with #CamThomas
Yahoo
a day ago
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Report: Nets haven't "significantly engaged" with RFA Cam Thomas yet
The Brooklyn Nets have had an interesting offseason thus far as they selected five players in the 2025 NBA Draft and traded for forward Michael Porter Jr. in the early days of free-agency. At this point, Brooklyn has one game left in the Las Vegas Summer League to evaluate players, but it looks like they haven't come to the table for one of their most important players. "Sources say that the Nets, in fact, have yet to even significantly engage their own restricted free agent: Scoring guard Cam Thomas," NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote during his latest article on the restricted free-agent (RFA) market. As of this writing, RFAs like Thomas, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey have yet to be signed despite all coming off solid seasons. While Thomas is one of the best players on Brooklyn's roster heading into the 2025-26 season, the Nets could also be playing matters close to the vest given what the free-agent market looks like right now. Thomas being restricted gives the Nets leverage in the situation as they can match an offer that he receives from another team, but it seems like those offers are not coming in due to most teams not having much cap space to work with. Thomas, 23, is coming off the best season of his four-year career as he averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. The main issue for Thomas is that he is entering restricted free-agency during a time where most teams don't have the cap space to pry him away from the Nets and the best season of his career came in just a 25-game sample size. ESPN's Tim MacMahon said recently in his appearance on "The Brooklyn Boys" podcast that Thomas is ready to sign his new contract, but Brooklyn is not in as much of a rush to do so. Over the course of the 2024-25 season, Thomas was one of 19 players to average at least 24.0 points and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Report: Nets haven't "significantly engaged" with RFA Cam Thomas yet
Yahoo
a day ago
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Nets' Cam Thomas pushes back against narrative he isn't impactful
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas is in the midst of his first foray into NBA free-agency ever since he came into the league as the 27th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Thomas has been one of the more polarizing players that Brooklyn has had over the years and he took the time to respond to narratives about his game that he feels are incorrect. "The consensus on Cam Thomas — if there is one, and he's got some fans, and he's got some mega-detractors - but the consensus is kind of like empty calories ball hog," The Ringer's Zach Lowe said of Thomas during a recent episode of "The Zach Lowe Show." Lowe, accompanied by Nekias Duncan, co-host of "The Dunker Spot" podcast, was asking Duncan for his opinion of Thomas as he waits for his next contract in restricted free-agency. "The consensus? (Expletive) you and the consensus," Thomas said in his post on X responding to what Lowe said about what the consensus thinks about his game. "This is most likely the same consensus teams who can't guard me and send double teams from jump ball. Why are we double teaming a guy who's 'not that good' make it make sense please." Thomas, 23, heads in restricted free-agency after his best season in the NBA in which he averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. While Thomas had a career-best season in 2024-25, he also played just 25 games as he dealt with a troublesome left hamstring that ended his season in March. Thomas, who has yet to be signed by Brooklyn or anyone else, has not been "significantly engaged" by the Nets regarding his next contract, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer. Thomas' situation, while concerning to Brooklyn fans who want the guard to return to the Nets as soon as possible, doesn't seem to be entirely unusual given that all of the big-name restricted free-agents, like Thomas, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga and Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, remain unsigned as well. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Cam Thomas pushes back against narrative he isn't impactful
Yahoo
a day ago
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Zach Lowe responds to Nets' Cam Thomas over 'consensus' spat
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas recently made headlines after addressing The Ringer's Zach Lowe over comments Lowe made in a recent episode of "The Zach Lowe Show" podcast. Lowe was pointing out what the consensus is on Thomas and his game, prompting Thomas to respond by dismissing the criticism. Once the dust settled, Lowe took the time to address the situation. "If Cam Thomas had listened to the subsequent 12 minutes, I don't think he did, but I don't know. He would have heard me deep-dive into his game and talk about career-high assists," Lowe said to colleague Rob Mahoney. While Thomas was within his right to address any criticism of him or his game, Lowe also spoke about Thomas for much longer than what was put on social media to provide context around the conversation. "Certain kind of passes that he's gotten meaningfully better at: Nick Claxton lobs, little dump-offs, and stuff like that," Lowe continued. "I have said consistently for two years of Cam Thomas dialogue that the guy can straight up get buckets and there is a place for him in the NBA. To me, that place is most likely sixth-man scoring burst guy, which is what I said in that 12-minute segment." As part of Lowe's discussion of Thomas, the former ESPN NBA commentator mentioned that Thomas is one of the most polarizing players in the NBA and how social media reacted to Lowe's comments proved that once again. Thomas, 23, is coming off the best season of his four-year career as he averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. Thomas is currently a restricted free-agent this summer, meaning that he doesn't have much control over where he plays next season and with few NBA teams having ample cap space, Thomas may have to settle for what the Nets want to pay him. It's possible that Thomas is frustrated by his first foray into free-agency, something that Lowe understands, but Lowe also wanted to make it clear how he feels about the controversy and Thomas. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Zach Lowe responds to Nets' Cam Thomas over 'consensus' spat
Yahoo
2 days ago
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How similar is Nets' Cam Thomas to Bernard King for career impact?
Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas is in the middle of his first foray into free-agency at just 23 years old after playing four seasons in the NBA. Thomas has been one of the more polarizing figures in the league due to the way that he plays the game, but there are still many wondering why he hasn't been signed yet. There could be a career comparison for Thomas. "Bernard King is a real comp here, I think... like all of these guys, this is like basically the list of guys who did not win a title playing this style of basketball," The Athletic's Sam Vecenie said on an episode of the "Game Theory Podcast." One of the topics that have been discussed over the past couple of years is how valuable Thomas' style of play is to winning in the NBA today. "As he (Thomas) currently plays basketball, this has not really been a winning player archetype throughout the annals of NBA history," Vecenie continued before explaining that the analysis is more about Thomas' archetype than it is about how good of a player he is. "I'm higher on Cam Thomas' scoring ability than probably what most people are. I think that dude is born to score the basketball and is this incredible, unbelievable scoring basketball player." Thomas is coming off the best season of his career after averaging 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. While Thomas looked like the best version of himself following the 2024-25 season, he played in just 25 games, the fewest appearances that he's made in a season since being the 27th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Time will tell if Thomas can have a career similar to King, who averaged 22.5 points per game for his career, but the main issue for Thomas and the Nets at the moment is agreeing to a contract. Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Thomas is looking for a significant pay raise based on some of the guards that are currently making at least $30 million per year. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: How similar is Nets' Cam Thomas to Bernard King for career impact?
Yahoo
3 days ago
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What can the Nets do with the rest of their cap space?
The Brooklyn Nets are wrapping up their Las Vegas Summer League with a disappointing 1-4 record, but are also coming away from Vegas with a good look at their four rookies. With that being said, Brooklyn has the rest of the offseason to worry about. While they are trying to figure out how to bring guard Cam Thomas back, they also have to think about their cap space. Per Keith Smith of Spotrac, the Nets renounced the free-agent rights to center Day'Ron Sharpe and forward Ziaire Williams as the team was looking to re-sign both players. Towards the end of June, it was announced that Brooklyn re-signed Sharpe and Williams in free-agency, but Smith pointed out that the two will be brought back to the team either with cap space or the "Room Exception." The "Room Exception" that Smith is referring to is the Mid-Level Room Exception (worth $8,781,000), an exception that can be used by teams with cap space, which the Nets fit into. According to Smith, Brooklyn has $22.3 million worth of cap space left to use this offseason and Spotrac's numbers as of this writing have the Nets at $19.9 million to use with just Thomas as the only restricted free-agent left to attend to. Due to the fact that Brooklyn is under the $139,182,000 salary cap for the 2025-26 season, there are no restrictions for them when it comes to trades or buyouts. However, the Nets, who have $134,733,990 in salary-cap allocations, "must spend to the salary floor by start of the season or team will have a cap hold assigned for the difference," according to Spotrac. At this point, the Nets have 18 players on the roster, including Sharpe and Williams, whose transactions are still considered pending, and forward Tosan Evbuomwan and guard Tyson Etienne, the two Two-Way players under contract. Brooklyn can go over the salary cap to sign Thomas due to his being a restricted free-agent, but time will tell what general manager Sean Marks decides to do with the rest of the cap space. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: What can the Nets do with the rest of their cap space?
