The last time Cam Thomas spent this much time coming off the bench, Jacque Vaughn was still the Nets head coach and the Mikal Bridges blockbuster was still six months from happening.
In late December and for most of January during the 2023-24 campaign, Thomas shifted to the second unit, with his glaring defensive weakness undoing his dynamic offensive contributions to the point where Brooklyn felt it needed a change.
Eventually, Thomas worked his way back into the starting lineup, and with the exception of two games last year, that’s where he’s stayed, even after Vaughn was fired, Kevin Ollie took over as interim coach and Jordi Fernández was eventually hired.
Their most consistent avenue for points in bunches remained the focal point of the Nets lineup. But in each of his six games since returning from a 20-game absence due to a left hamstring strain, Thomas has shifted back to the second unit, asked to be the cohesive link on the court alongside some of their youngest pieces.
At 24 years old and in his fifth NBA season, Thomas is the veteran of a group also including Danny Wolf (21 years old), Nolan Traore (19) and Drake Powell (20).
It’s a delicate balance for a Nets team more concerned — at the macro level — about drafting and developing. It essentially is a new reality for Thomas, whose future with a rebuilding organization was always murky after accepting Brooklyn’s qualifying offer before the season.
Ben Saraf (out the last two games with knee soreness and assigned to G-League Long Island on Saturday), Wolf, Traore and Powell require chances to score, to contribute, to have possessions end with them, just like Egor Dëmin has maximized the starters, and Fernández believes Thomas has navigated that task so far entering Sunday’s road game against the Grizzlies.
“I’m very happy with the second group,” Fernández said after the Nets lost 121-105 to the Clippers on Friday. “They’re trying to play the right way. I’m happy and trying to focus more on [Thomas] because that’s the superpower that he has, and defenses have to focus on him. And then he’ll figure it out when he scores and takes the shot, when he passes the ball.”
During his stretch on the bench, Thomas has averaged 12.3 shots and 17.3 points per game, down from the 18.6 and 24.4, respectively, he collected across the first seven games of the season before sustaining the hamstring injury in the eighth game.
But he has still taken the bulk of the attempts for the second unit.
In Friday’s game against the Clippers, Thomas went 5-for-13 from the field and finished with 13 points.
Wolf finished with eight attempts, Traore had seven, Sharpe finished with six and Powell missed both of his. They were outscored by the Clippers reserves by nine and dropped to 2-11 this season in games that Thomas has finished.
Near the end of the first quarter, Thomas dribbled through the Clippers defense from the left wing, hesitated and eventually pulled up for a jumper that cut the Nets deficit to seven.
Then, around the eight-minute mark, Traore drove and flung a pass to Thomas for a 3-pointer.
“I think Cam did a really good job,” Fernández said Friday, “and we put the ball in his hands. They gotta put two on him. He’s making the right play. The guys are spacing the floor. They’re ready to shoot.”
It’s unclear just how long Thomas will remain with the second unit.
When they were missing eight starters during a blowout loss Jan. 1, Thomas still came off the bench and didn’t seem thrilled, dropping a simple “no comment” postgame when asked if it was frustrating to get bench minutes in a game like that.
As a pending unrestricted free agent in the middle of a walk year after a long-term extension with the Nets never materialized, Thomas is also essentially auditioning for his next deal — giving teams glimpses of how his productive scoring, spotty defense and past injuries should factor into his next contract.
For now, that has needed to happen through an altered role.
