{"id":157930,"date":"2025-09-04T13:30:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T17:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=157930"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:45:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T16:45:52","slug":"cam-thomas-nets-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/04\/cam-thomas-nets-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Thomas Bets On Himself, But Nets Bet On Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This summer, four restricted free agents hoped to get a good offer. But the situation with all of them, while different, showed that restricted free agency can be a huge challenge. Of the four, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomaca02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Thomas<\/a> is the first to sign the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/04\/cam-thomas-rejects-richer-offers-signs-qualifying-offer\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">qualifying offer<\/a>, bet on his future, and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. But was that a wise decision? While he might be betting on himself, will the team bet on him as well? How invested will the Brooklyn Nets be in a player who can easily leave next summer?<\/p>\n<h2>Cam Thomas Bets On Himself, But Nets Bet On Future<\/h2>\n<p>According to the latest reports, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/09\/03\/wmoney-left-to-spend-nets-looking-to-continue-building-towards-future-as-they-ponder-more-trades\/\" target=\"_self\">Nets are looking to build towards their future<\/a> and do not view Thomas as a part of that. That might prove a considerable challenge for Thomas, who hopes to show the league that he can deliver and be a quality player on a winning team. The latest reports claim,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Thomas&#8217; future so uncertain, the Nets are unlikely to feature him as much as if they had signed him to a long-term contract, and of course, the Nets are once again in tank mode as they try to secure one of the top picks in the 2026 Draft.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Nets don\u2019t have long-term plans for Cam Thomas and are unlikely to feature him much on offense next season as they look to tank, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NetsDaily?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NetsDaily<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Thomas future so uncertain, the Nets are unlikely to feature him as much as if they had signed him to a long-term contract\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A6Zdlbb4eW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/A6Zdlbb4eW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheDunkCentral\/status\/1963626321260499006?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 4, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That can easily tank his price even lower for next summer. Yes, there will be plenty of teams with cap space. One of them might decide to give him a chance. However, it will be challenging to secure a $25+ million contract per year if he is not playing as much or as involved offensively.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_146751\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-146751\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-146751 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"rooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) looks to the basket in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-600x400.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/06\/IMG_7229-1200x800.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-146751\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 11, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) looks to the basket in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Thomas, the Odd Man Out<\/h3>\n<p>The Nets added five rookies in the 2025 NBA draft, and they now have one of the youngest rosters in the league. Judging by how the negotiations between them and Thomas went, it is clear they do not consider him an important part of their future.<\/p>\n<p>They drafted two guards in the first round: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/demineg01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Egor Demin<\/a> eighth overall and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/traorno01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nolan Traore<\/a> at 19th. Both play at the one spot, with Demin listed at six-foot-nine and Traore at six-foot-three. Thomas is more of a shooting guard, but he had the ball in his hands plenty last season. With Brooklyn trying to develop their young rookies, Thomas might be the odd man out. He might find himself in a situation like in his first two years with the Nets, when he averaged between 16 and 18 minutes. The last two seasons, he averaged about 31 minutes, but that playing time may not be there in 2025-26.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Thomas Overvaluing Himself?<\/h3>\n<p>We are now in the first and second apron era of the NBA. Teams have to be more cautious about how they spend money. Giving away high-salary contracts to players who might not be worth as much is something that can set your franchise back for years. Thomas believes he is a starting-level guard with All-Star potential. The Nets do not view him as such. Instead, they see him as a quality role player.<\/p>\n<p>For comparison, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/contracts\/players.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thomas might believe he should be earning<\/a> as much as players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/q\/quickim01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Immanuel Quickley<\/a> ($32.5 million per year), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/poolejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Poole<\/a> ($32 million per year), or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/herroty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Herro<\/a> ($30 million per year). He might be right. But those were all contracts signed before the \u201capron era.\u201d In the new era, teams are not giving out $30 million per year contracts unless you prove you deliver wins. So far, Thomas hasn\u2019t done that. He can still get a deal of around $20 million, something that players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nembhan01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Nembhard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sextoco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Collin Sexton<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huntede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Andre Hunter<\/a> earn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Featured image: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summer, four restricted free agents hoped to get a good offer. But the situation with all of them, while different, showed that restricted free agency can be a huge challenge. Of the four, Cam Thomas is the first to sign the qualifying offer, bet on his future, and become an unrestricted free agent next [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":127939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,62,3],"tags":[4069,49834,49303],"class_list":["post-157930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-nba","category-news","tag-cam-thomas","tag-egor-demin","tag-nolan-traore"],"modified_by":"Kayla Fonte","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157930"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157954,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157930\/revisions\/157954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}