Cam Thomas was originally a nice value pick for the Brooklyn Nets. What has he become? Quite possibly the steal of the 2021 NBA Draft and an indispensable part of head coach Steve Nash’s offense.
Brooklyn’s rotation has been all over the place this season due to varying factors including Kevin Durant’s health, Kyrie Irving’s 50-50 availability and the James Harden trade. A result of this fluidity has been more minutes for Thomas, whose play has been paramount.
Here’s how Cam Thomas is taking the Brooklyn Nets’ offense to the next level.
Cam Thomas is a fearless scorer for the Brooklyn Nets
In his lone season at LSU, Thomas was the team’s leading scorer and a fearless one at that. It has been more of the same with the Nets — provided he’s given starting minutes.
Thomas is getting inside off the dribble, shooting off the dribble and forcing defenses to respect his perimeter game. Sure, he’s a bit inefficient. That said, Thomas has become someone who defenses have to gameplan for given his confidence in hoisting up shots all over the floor.
Thomas has come into his own of late, as he has five 20-point games across the Nets’ last seven games. He’s playing up to the moment and filling the scoring void that currently exists in the team’s rotation.
- Cam Thomas stats (last seven games): 21.6 points per game while shooting 48.7/32.4/80.6
Whenever Nash has given Thomas minutes, the combo guard has put forth valiant efforts. Early on, Thomas was near the end of the bench. As injuries piled up, he became a consistent member of the rotation and performed admirably. Now he’s one of their top scorers.
A fully available version of the Nets’ offense is a runaway freight train — in a good way — with the way Thomas is playing.
Cam Thomas provides much-needed scoring depth for the Brooklyn Nets
Durant is arguably the best scorer in the NBA. Irving is a slick, high-level scorer. Seth Curry is an efficient scorer. Patty Mills is an outside sniper. LaMarcus Aldridge has a plausible midrange game. Big men Nic Claxton, Day’Ron Sharpe and Blake Griffin are money in the paint. All that said, injury, availability and age concerns still exist in this rotation. That’s what makes Thomas’ surge so timely.
No matter how loaded an NBA contender may be, they can’t have enough scoring. In the Nets’ case, they just dropped 11 consecutive games and have a volatile rotation with the insertion of Curry, Andre Drummond and eventually Ben Simmons.
Curry and Thomas, to a degree, help make up for the points that Harden left at the door. Sticking with Thomas, he will benefit from the attention that Durant and Irving attract offensively. Thomas will get clean looks from the perimeter given the inevitable double-team or traffic jam that one of the two stars create by attacking the rack and be able to selectively operate in isolation.
- Cam Thomas stats (2020-21 college season): 23.0 points per game while shooting 40.6/32.5/88.2
Thomas can only improve from both a production and impact point of view. At 20, the sky is the limit. He can become a more efficient shooter, dominant off the dribble and a well-versed scorer on the whole.
Thomas should be holding down a high-minute sixth man role and/or be on the floor at the end of games when the Nets are fully intact.
Cam Thomas has been a godsend for the Brooklyn Nets
The Nets entered this season as an offensive juggernaut, which was sidetracked by the Harden trade. At the same time, they’re still a well-rounded, championship-caliber team in the wake of his departure. It’s a matter of how Simmons fits alongside Durant and Irving, which further underscores the importance of Thomas’ stellar rookie season.
In a season of volatility, Thomas has been a continually improving force and one of the few constants for the Nets. This all came with the 27th selection in the NBA Draft.
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From a talent standpoint, Thomas could’ve easily been a top-20 pick. Perhaps he fell to the late 20s because teams wanted to see him score with more efficiency and be less of a high-volume shooter? One way or another, general manager Sean Marks drafted based on the best player on the board, as opposed to the best fit.
Marks took the prudent approach because a team selecting that late in the first round presumably already has a core and rotation in place. With that in mind, why not take a chance on upside? This approach has paid immediate dividends for the Nets.
Cam Thomas has been a godsend for the Nets. Heck, where would their offense be without him?