Tag: cam thomas

Should the Nets extend Cam Thomas this offseason?

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Brian Lewis of the New York Post discussed whether the Brooklyn Nets will extend Cam Thomas this summer.

The Brooklyn Nets are heading into an important offseason for them as they will be looking to address several issues with the team to be better for next season. One of the players who is becoming more important to Brooklyn with each passing day is guard Cam Thomas.

In a recent episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype and Brian Lewis of the New York Post discussed various areas of the Nets as they approach this summer. One of those topics was whether Thomas would receive an extension this summer given that he is eligible for one coming off a career year for him.

During the conversation, Lewis said “I’m not sure it’s great business to do an extension now. If I look at this as a general manager now, I probably wouldn’t do it now. But, I’d tell him that I’m not doing it and why.” One important thing to note is that Thomas will be a restricted free-agent next summer so there isn’t as much pressure for the Nets to extend him this offseason given that they could match whatever offer Thomas receives next year.

Thomas, 22, is coming off a season in which he averaged 22.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 44.2% from the field, 36.4% from three-point land, and 85.6% from the free-throw line. While he is not expected to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award, Thomas should be in the conversation given that he averaged 10.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game just last season.

Scotto also said that “As of today, I don’t see Cam Thomas and the Nets agreeing to a contract extension, but it’s a situation I’ll certainly monitor all summer” when discussing Thomas’ extension chances. Whether Brooklyn reaches a contract extension this summer with Thomas or not, it seems that the Nets will be giving Thomas a lot of money soon enough.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas reflects on growth this season, MIP award

During his exit interview on Monday, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas spoke on how his game grew this season, the MIP award, and more.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets‘ 2023-24 season ended on Sunday after they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, but one could argue that their postseason hopes ended before that. One of the few bright spots that came out of this disappointing season for Brooklyn was the emergence of Cam Thomas and how he burst onto the scene.

“I thought we was in a good spot this year,” Thomas said during his exit interview on Monday. Over the course of this season, Thomas went from projected bench scorer to being the best offensive player on a Nets team that struggled to find another source of consistent production. Thomas found himself in a new role and exceeded expectations when Brooklyn needed him the most.

“We started off good,” Thomas explained. “I mean, we lost some tough close games, all one possession games early. But then we found our stride, got some wins. And then i think we just hit that wall as a team, we couldn’t really recover from it. It was tough. But I mean, we always showed flashes of the kind of team we can be, you know, getting up and down, guarding, making 3s, just making shots as a team.”

The Nets began this season with a 13-10 record despite some tough, close losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks, two of the better teams in the NBA this season. However, after beating the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 13 to get to 13-10, Brooklyn proceeded to lose their next five games against better competition and it seems like the Nets never regained their competitiveness after that.

“Just knowing that I could be doubled a lot more, coming off screens and stuff, or even in the one-on-one situations, reading where the double will come from, seeing where teams double me, and the way teams double me,” Thomas said when asked what he will be working on this offseason.

Thomas had the best season of his career by far and that was due to playing on a more consistent basis and having a much larger role compared to his first two seasons in the NBA. Despite getting his opportunity in his third season, Thomas never lost confidence in himself or in the chance for his ascension to happen in Brooklyn.

“I always believed in myself and I know the kind of player that I am. I just want to keep working. I never really had doubts of not playing. I believe in myself and my ability the best way I can. Sometimes, it was just a timing thing. I never really had doubts about it happening here. I love it here. I got drafted here, so I’ll always have a place for it. I never really had doubts about playing here,” Thomas said.

While he isn’t likely to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award this season, Thomas believes that he should be in the conversation. “I should definitely be top three going from barely playing in the rotation and having little spurts in the season to going all the way up an 11-point jump to 22 points per game. Any other year, that goes noticed. But this year, it’s kind of gone unnoticed,” Thomas explained.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas gets Bill Simmons’ vote, but not for Most Improved

In an episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” host Bill Simmons nominated Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas for an award, but it wasn’t the MIP.

The 2023-24 NBA regular season is coming to a close and among other things, that means that it’s time for voters to make their picks for the end-of-season accolades. Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas is considered to be one of the players in contention for the Most Improved Player of the Year award, but one media member thinks Thomas deserves a different kind of award as well.

In a episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” released on Monday, Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo discussed their annual “Made-Up” awards show. One of the awards that they discussed was the “Freeman Williams” award for the biggest “black hole” in the NBA this season.

As Simmons says, the award is named after Williams because “on the 1980-81 (San Diego) Clippers, he played 24.1 minutes a game, averaged 19.3 points a game and took 16.8 field-goals. 16.8 field goals in 24.1 minutes. If you do the per 36 (minutes), it projects to like 25 shots a game and he was like the seven man.”

Based on this commentary, it sounds like Simmons defines a “black hole” as a player who rarely passes the ball. So, Simmons is nominating Thomas for this award and even described it as “this is Cam Thomas’ award to lose” to indicate that Thomas is the frontrunner in his mind.

For the purpose of this discussion, it should be noted that it is hard for find catch-all numbers that would indicate how likely a player is to shoot or pass the ball in a given scenario. Basketball is very much a game of instinct and that’s not taking into account that every player has a role that influences what he is likely to do on any possession.

Per Basketball Reference, Thomas is attempting 28.7 field-goals per 100 team possessions which ties him with Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox for the fourth-most field-goal attempts in the NBA. Essentially, if Thomas played 100 offensive possessions for the Nets, he would shoot between 28 times and 29 times on average.

Of the 28 players that are averaging at least 24.5 field-goal attempts per 100 possessions, Thomas ranks 25th in assists per game (4.7), but is also just 21st in turnovers per game (3.0) while ranking 13th in points per game (35.5). It should also be noted that Thomas is estimated to have played just 8% of his time at point guard so, as primarily an off-ball guard, when the ball is in his hands, it’s usually to shoot the basketball.

No matter where you stand on the issue of whether Thomas is a “black hole” or not, everyone has to admit that he is one of the better scorers in the NBA. And, at just 22 years old, his scoring has made a difference for a Nets team that is still finding its way following the trades of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas gives his take on Kevin Ollie’s performance

After Wednesday’s 115-111 win over the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas gave his opinion on interim head coach Kevin Ollie.

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie took over Brooklyn at a time when the team was trying to do what it could to turn the season around. Ollie filled in after Jacque Vaughn was fired during the All-Star break and while his record isn’t stellar, a key player believes that Ollie has done a good job.

“Yeah, he’s done a great job,” Nets guard Cam Thomas said after Wednesday’s 115-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. While Brooklyn did its job by stepping up to beat the Pacers, they were ultimately eliminated from the Eastern Conference play-in tournament because the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons.

“I mean, it’s only so much you can do at the All-Star break,” Thomas explained. “I mean, he can’t really change too much. We’re already 50, 55 games in. Not much you can really change, because that would be a tough thing to do. But, I feel like for what he’s had to deal with and what the situation brought, he’s done an amazing job. So, it’s been great.”

Over the course of this season, the Nets were 21-33 (38.9%) under Vaughn before he was dismissed and Brooklyn is 9-14 (39.1%) under the direction of Ollie. With that being said, there is a difference in how the Nets have been playing under Ollie.

Under Vaughn, Brooklyn was 19th in the NBA in offensive rating (114.5) and 21st in defensive rating (116.8). After Ollie took over, the Nets regressed to 24th in offensive rating (109.7), but improved to 13th in the league in defensive rating (112.8).

Obviously, Ollie is working with most of the same personnel that Vaughn was working with, but Ollie is also dealing with the absences of Spencer Dinwiddie and Royce O’Neale while taking advantage of the addition of Dennis Schroder. As this season gets close to the end, Ollie has the support of one of the team’s best players.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas draws praise from Lakers’ LeBron James

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas received some praise from Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James after Sunday’s loss to the Lakers.

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has made his mark in the NBA as one of the better scorers in the league and at this point, his scoring explosions are becoming less surprising. Thomas had another opportunity to show what he could do against one of the best players in NBA history and even got some quick praise in the process.

In Sunday’s 116-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Thomas put up 30 points and six assists in a contest that saw the Nets come back from a 26-point deficit to get to within eight points of the Lakers in large part because of Thomas’ microwave-like scoring ability and timely passing.

On the other side of Thomas was LeBron James, a player who many in the NBA community consider to be the greatest player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers. James put up 40 points of his own in his latest masterpiece as he shot 13-of-17 from the field, including 9-of-10 from three-point range.

After the win over the Nets, James was asked by Erik Slater of ClutchPoints about his thoughts on Thomas given that he’s averaging 33.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 52.5% from the field and 57.1% from deep in two games against Los Angeles this season and James had some praise for Thomas, albeit brief.

James said that Thomas “does that to everybody” in reference to his scoring outbursts. That marks another great player in the league who has seen what Thomas can do and as some people say, game recognizes game.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas reacts to tough loss on Sunday to the Lakers

After Sunday’s 116-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas reacted to the Nets’ awful start to the game.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets were riding high as they were on a three-game winning streak for the fourth time this season. However, as what happened in the previous three times that they won three games straight, they lost and this time, it was in a disappointing fashion.

“They made shots, we didn’t,” Nets guard Cam Thomas said after Sunday’s 116-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nets began this game on the wrong foot as they started the second quarter shooting 0-for-11 from the field and trailing 17-0 before scoring their points with 5:39 left in the period.

“That’s all it is to it,” Thomas said. “I mean, we went like 0 for 10 at the start. They (the Lakers) didn’t really do nothing too crazy. I had wide open looks and I didn’t make them to start off. So, no, we just didn’t make the shots to start off, but it’s all right.”

The Nets trailed by as many as 26 points in this contest, but after chipping away at the deficit from the second quarter on, Brooklyn was able to get to within eight points before LeBron James caught fire from three-point range. Until that moment, the Nets had a shot at a comeback of epic proportions.

Unfortunately, Brooklyn was unable to overcome 40 points from James and 24 points from Anthony Davis in a game where the Lakers had just two points from their bench. As Thomas pointed out, a poor start is ultimately what doomed the Nets in the end despite them winning the game 93-85 after the second quarter.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas reacts to team’s offensive explosion vs. Bulls

After Friday’s 125-108 win over the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas reacted to the team’s offensive explosion.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have been one of the more interesting teams in the NBA with regards to how their performance can change on a nightly basis. On Friday, it was one of those outcomes that can occur for a Brooklyn team that considers the three-point line a big part of its offense.

“First half, you wouldn’t have expected that,” Nets guard Cam Thomas after Friday’s 125-108 win over the Chicago Bulls in which Brooklyn shot 25-of-44 (56.8%) from three-point range. According to Nets PR, the Nets tied an NBA record for the most threes made in any half by shooting 18-of-24 (75.0%) from deep in the second half.

“So, it just shows that we just have to keep playing full game and shots are gonna fall eventually,” Thomas said. In the first half, Brooklyn shot 7-of-20 (35.0%) from three-point land which isn’t a terrible shooting performance, but it was clearly less prolific than what they did from that range in the second half.

In the six games prior to Friday’s win over the Bulls, the Nets shot just 29% from three-point range so this kind of shooting performance against a formidable team was welcomed by Brooklyn in the midst of pursuing a spot in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. “And E (Eli, Nets PR) just told me that we was like 18 for 24. And, it’s like, yeah, from three, you’re not going to lose too many games like that. So, that’s just credit to everybody sticking with it,” Thomas said.

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Nets’ Cam Thomas reacts to huge performance at Wizards

After Wednesday’s 122-119 overtime win at the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas reacted to his 12th 30-point game.

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been one of the best players on the team since the beginning of the season when he entered the starting lineup. Since then, Thomas has had plenty of performances that have shown Brooklyn’s fanbase, and the NBA world, what he can do when the opportunity is there.

The Nets beat the Washington Wizards in overtime on Wednesday 122-119 and a big reason for Brooklyn emerging victorious was because of the play of Thomas. Thomas put up 38 points and seven assists in an outing that showed how Thomas can be more than a scorer when on the floor.

Thomas essentially went shot-for-shot with Wizards guard Jordan Poole, who also dropped 38 points, and the best part was that he did it in an efficient manner. Thomas shot 14-of-27 from the field, 2-of-6 from three-point land, and 8-for-8 from free-throw line while turning the basketball over just twice in over 45 minutes of floor time.

There were also some moments when Thomas was either the lone ball-handler or was the lead guard on the floor and he had to handle the ball against some tough perimeter defense. He notched his 12th 30-point game of the season and afterwards, Thomas reacted to how he played:

“Just reading the game. Just taking what the defense give me. It’s been an emphasis for me this year since teams are keying in on me more so I got to learn how to attack the NBA defense differently. Just reading the game and just getting my guys shots. Make-or-miss, you got to live with it.”

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Nets full injury report for Wednesday’s matchup at Wizards

Here is the Brooklyn Nets’ full injury report heading into their matchup on Wednesday at the Washington Wizards.

The Brooklyn Nets‘ season is close to ending and at the moment, they find themselves in danger of missing the Eastern Conference play-in tournament with plenty of separation between them and the Atlanta Hawks. With that being said, Brooklyn will be moving forward with their postseason quest with some significant injuries in their rotation.

In the Nets’ injury report ahead of their matchup at the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, guard Cam Thomas is listed as questionable for the contest due to lower back tightness. Thomas was supposed to play in Monday’s 96-88 win at the Toronto Raptors, but was ruled out shortly before tip-off due to experiencing the back tightness during warmups.

After Monday’s win, Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie said that Thomas did not play due to back spasms so it’s possible that the back spasms and the back tightness are to mean the same thing. Either way, Ollie said that he wasn’t sure if Thomas would be able to play at the Wizards and that is supported by Thomas’ questionable designation.

Elsewhere on the report, forward Keita Bates-Diop (right shin stress reaction), forward Cam Johnson (left big toe sprain), and guard Dennis Smith Jr. (right hip synovitis) are all out for the contest at Washington. Ollie said prior to Monday’s win that Johnson would not make the road trip so it’s not surprising that he was ruled out for Wednesday’s game as well.

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Nets’ Kevin Ollie gives update on Cam Thomas’ back issue

After Monday’s 96-88 win at the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie gave an update on Cam Thomas’ back issue.

The Brooklyn Nets are fighting against the odds to get past the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th and final seed in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. While it’s unlikely that Brooklyn will be able to get into the play-in tournament because of the gap between them and the Hawks, the Nets took care of business at the Toronto Raptors.

The Nets beat the Raptors on Monday 96-88, but it took some doing despite the fact that Toronto was missing a significant number of their better players. Brooklyn was dealing with some injuries of their own, including the late scratch of super-scoring guard Cam Thomas shortly before tip-off due to lower back tightness, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

What made Thomas’ absence surprising was because he was not on the injury report at any point leading up to the game so for him to be ruled out, something seemed to happen during the pregame warmups. Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie addressed Thomas’ late scratch after the win and his update on Thomas was mostly encouraging.

Ollie said that Thomas suffered back spasms during the pregame warmups and that’s why he was ruled out for the contest. Ollie also said that he isn’t sure if Thomas will be able to go for Wednesday’s game at the Washington Wizards yet, but that the team will do what it can to make Thomas’ back more comfortable by “giving him a couple extra pillows” as he recovers.

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