Cam Thomas and LeBron James now have something in common
Kyrie Irving who? Cam Thomas is absolutely feeling it for the Brooklyn Nets right now.
Over the last two games, there hasn’t been a player in the NBA who has been hotter. Thomas has scored 91 points total over his last two starts for the Nets. First, he dropped 44 points in an epic comeback win against the Wizards. Then he absolutely torched the Clippers with 47 points and made that game way closer than it ever should’ve been.
Thomas has found himself in some pretty legendary territory at this point. Just how legendary? Don’t worry, the stats tell us just how impossible his last two games have been.
What should each of the 30 NBA teams do at the trade deadline? We have ideas.
The NBA trade deadline is just a couple of days away, and we’ve already seen a blockbuster thanks to Kyrie Irving drama.
So: Who else is going? We’ve listed a bunch of possible trade targets, and now the question is: What should every team do by Thursday afternoon?
We’ve answered that below with a look at how each of the 30 NBA teams should approach the deadline, whether it’s buying, selling or staying out of the fray, including some ideas for their front offices.
Prince Grimes has the Eastern Conference handled, while Charles Curtis will tackle teams in the West. Let’s dive in:
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Cam Thomas reacts to scoring binge as well as Kyrie Irving trade being official.
NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas had the performance of his career in Monday’s 124-116 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite the loss, Thomas had 47 points, becoming the second-youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in back-to-back games, and three assists in the losing effort.
“I love to hoop man,” Thomas said when asked during his postgame interview about what allows him to be ready to play under any circumstance. “Obviously, I want to play in the real games. You can’t tell me one person who don’t want to play in a real NBA game, it’s foolish. I just try to stay in the moment and when I do get my opportunity, I try to make the most of it.” Thomas was incredible for the Nets all night long. However, there was something that was weighing on his mind.
“I’d probably say I was more stunned with the first time when he requested it,” Thomas said when asked for his reaction to the Kyrie Irving now being official. “It’s just business so, I stay out of it. I got drafted here. I just play.” Thomas has said in the past that Irving is a big brother to him so it makes sense why he was shocked when the news first broke of Irving wanting a trade.
NBA Twitter reacts to the Nets’ disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday.
The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Los Angeles Clippers at Barclays Center on Monday and lost 124-116. The regular-season series between the two teams is tied at 1-1.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 47 points and three assists while Edmond Sumner had 23 points and five rebounds. Nic Claxton and Royce O’Neale had 15 points each.
For the Clippers, Paul George had 29 points and three assists while Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and six assists. Ivica Zubac had 19 points and Norman Powell had 14 points off the bench.
The first half was essentially an even fight between both teams as Thomas and O’Neale carried the Nets offense in the beginning. A theme in the first half was Brooklyn being unable to get scoring out of more than two players.
In the second half, the Nets changed the entire tempo of the game as they stormed out to a 17-8 run to begin the third quarter. Thomas continued his stellar play in the second half as Claxton and Sumner came along for the ride. In the end, George and Leonard were too much for Brooklyn to stop and the turnovers down the stretch hurt.
Here are your Nets player grades for Monday’s 124-116 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Los Angeles Clippers at Barclays Center on Monday and lost 124-116. The regular-season series between the two teams is tied at 1-1.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 47 points and three assists while Edmond Sumner had 23 points and five rebounds. Nic Claxton and Royce O’Neale had 15 points each.
For the Clippers, Paul George had 29 points and three assists while Kawhi Leonard had 24 points and six assists. Ivica Zubac had 19 points and Norman Powell had 14 points off the bench.
The first half was essentially an even fight between both teams as Thomas and O’Neale carried the Nets offense in the beginning. A theme in the first half was Brooklyn being unable to get scoring out of more than two players.
In the second half, the Nets changed the entire tempo of the game as they stormed out to a 17-8 run to begin the third quarter. Thomas continued his stellar play in the second half as Claxton and Sumner came along for the ride. In the end, George and Leonard were too much for Brooklyn to stop and the turnovers down the stretch hurt.
Jacque Vaughn tells his team to stay in the moment and not worry about the outside noise regarding the Kyrie Irving trade.
NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has had a lot of manage this season after taking over for the fired Steve Nash. Kyrie Irving’s trade request on Friday, that is now official, made Vaughn’s job even harder as he tried to keep his players focused despite the noise surrounding the team.
“Be present,” Vaughn said during his pregame availability ahead of Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. “Show up. Do your job today. So, pretty simple message for our group. Carryover from the second half of that last game (Saturday against the Washington Wizards). That awareness and sense of competitive spirit that we had, to start with that tonight.”
The trade that sent Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2027 unprotected first-round pick, and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029 became official around 6 p.m. EST on Monday. Now, Vaughn and the Nets who are still on the team can look forward to playing the Clippers without worrying about the Irving trade anymore.
Kyrie Irving says goodbye to the Brooklyn Nets fans who supported him during his time with the team.
Former Brooklyn Net Kyrie Irving has issued his goodbye to Nets fans after he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Irving was sent to the Mavericks along with Markieff Morris for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029.
Irving’s desire for a trade became public on Friday and until Sunday, the Twitter world was rife with hot takes and mock trades. In the end, most reports agree that Irving wanted a trade after being unable to come to terms on a contract extension that satisfied him and the team.
In Irving’s four seasons with Brooklyn, he averaged 27.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 48.9% from the field and 39.6% from the 3-point line. Since Irving’s first season (2019-2020), Brooklyn had been in the playoffs every season, but lost in either the first round or in the conference semifinals. Irving made the All-Star team three times during his time as a Net.
Thank you NetsWorld fans and supporters for the Love on and off the court. I will forever be grateful I got to live out my dream I had as a Kid with y’all. It will always be Love from me and my family. 🤞🏾♾
Marc Stein says that the Nets are going after Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors.
With the NBA trade deadline a few days away (Feb. 9), there are multiple reports the Brooklyn Nets are not ruling out flipping the recently acquired Spencer Dinwiddie as well as their draft capital to get a player who could be a solid second option to Kevin Durant. Marc Stein reported on Monday that Brooklyn has its sights set on acquiring Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.
Stein also reported the Nets are interested in Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, but that Toronto is less willing to part with Siakam than VanVleet. Many around the NBA have noted the trade that sent Kyrie Irving from the Nets to the Dallas Mavericks isn’t official yet because Brooklyn is looking to expand the trade to include a third team. It appears the Raptors could be that third team.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted that if the Nets are going to expand the Irving trade, they will have to do it today. All signs point to the Nets getting VanVleet at some point before the trade deadline. Time will tell if that will happen today.
Among the possibilities for expanding the Kyrie Irving-to-Dallas trade before this evening's scheduled trade call: League sources say that Brooklyn has explored the feasibility of packaging Spencer Dinwiddie and draft capital to Toronto in an attempt to acquire Fred VanVleet. https://t.co/L6kg8rNmoy
The Nets have also been described to me as a team with Pascal Siakam interest … although the signals entering the final week of trade season have reflected a reluctance from Toronto to this point to make Siakam available. https://t.co/8ugkJVbX7e
Mavs understand Brooklyn exploring ways for Nets to expand the deal, but Dallas needs the deal done today. Plan is for Kyrie Irving to join team in LA for practice tomorrow and play Wednesday vs. Clippers. https://t.co/HoWoPPrMp2
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While everyone is talking about Irving, who is reportedly “ecstatic” to join Luka Doncic on the Mavericks, we should probably pay a bit more attention to the fact that Finney-Smith is now on the Nets.
Last week, when we wrote about trade rumors involving OG Anunoby, we highlighted the intersection of defensive positional versatility and defensive matchup difficulty. These are the types of players who are able to guard the best player on the opposing team regardless of the opposing position.
Finney-Smith and Anunoby are two of the only players who both rank in the top 10 (minimum: 1,000 minutes) across both metrics, via BBall-Index. The only others who are currently accomplishing as much are just Herbert Jones, Dillon Brooks, and Jrue Holiday.
When it comes to defensive positional versatility, Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale also ranks in the top 10 so far this season. Ben Simmons, meanwhile, led the league in this metric during his first All-Star campaign with Philadelphia.
Finney-Smith, O’Neale, and Simmons give the Nets a versatile defense that will not struggle in a switch-heavy scheme. In the frontcourt, meanwhile, the Nets are led by sleeper Defensive Player of the Year candidate Nic Claxton.
Remember: Brooklyn’s defense ranked as the seventh-worst in the NBA during the era in which former head coach Steve Nash led the team. But the Nets’ ranked sixth-best in defensive rating during the impressive two-month stretch between when Jacque Vaughn took over on Nov. 9, 2022 and when Kevin Durant got hurt on Jan. 8, 2023.
Finney-Smith is only going to improve that defensive identity.
On the other side of the court, meanwhile, Finney-Smith will provide positive value as well. Over the course of their NBA careers thus far, Finney-Smith (36.0 percent on 4.1 attempts per game) and Anunoby (37.1 percent on 4.2 attempts per game) are also relatively comparable as 3-point shooters.
Last season, Finney-Smith was one of the league’s leaders in catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. He ranked in the 82nd percentile on these attempts, per Synergy.
Finney-Smith is an ideal win-now player for the Nets, and he may be gravely missed in Dallas if the experiment trading for Irving does not end up working out in their favor.
Brooklyn may not end up keeping Finney-Smith and could re-route him to a third team. That real possibility, as well as everything else about his value if he does stay on the team, makes him the most interesting player traded in this deal.
The Tip-Off
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(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
My colleague, Mike Sykes, has all the details about what happened in the recent fight between Minnesota’s Austin Rivers and Orlando’s Mo Bamba:
“Late in the 3rd quarter of the Magic-Timberwolves game, tempers flared between the two.
Cameras were on the game, then players started going toward the Magic bench. And then the cameras just cut to Rivers and Bamba getting into it.
Multiple Magic players got into it, including Jalen Suggs who tossed Rivers to the ground.”
Bucks (-180, -4.5) vs. Trail Blazers (+155), O/U 241.5, 10:00 PM ET
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Portland’s Damian Lillard was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. Dame is averaging 40.0 points per game over his last seven games while Giannis is averaging 39.4 ppg.
The move instantly improved the Mavericks’ championship odds (from plus-2500 to plus-1200) this season as Luka Doncic will now have a superstar teammate with him in the backcourt. Though it remains to be seen how it will all come together, the Mavericks figure to be a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.
Elsewhere around the NBA, teams now move on to other potential trade candidates with Irving off the board. The Toronto Raptors could be very active with several players reportedly available, while other teams should also be busy as they look to improve ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. EST deadline.
To make further sense of it, Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA and ranked each team from worst to first. We come back each week and provide our latest assessment of the best teams and those that are rising.
