The Brooklyn Nets officially made guard Cam Thomas a restricted free-agent on June 29 and it seemed that the ultimate goal was to bring him back to the Nets. However, as Brooklyn heads into its first game of the Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday, Thomas remains unsigned without much noise surrounding the negotiations and there could be a reason why.
“I would say Cam Thomas wants to be paid and apparently, the Nets aren’t too eager to pay him. I think that’s probably the simplified view of that whole situation,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said during his appearance on “The Brooklyn Boys” podcast with Connor Long. Thomas is one of four restricted free-agents that seem to not have much of a market with the way that they remain unsigned by their respective teams.
“He’s a pretty polarizing player around the league,” MacMahon continued. “The guy obviously can score like he can get buckets. Can he contribute to winning? I think is a big question around the league. My guess is that he is back in Brooklyn when next season starts, probably not on a long-term deal. I think there might be kind of a compromise between the parties where he’s back and it’s more of a short-term situation to allow him to get out into the unrestricted free-agency market at some point in the not-too-distant future.”
One of the more interesting storylines to watch for when it comes to the Nets and Thomas is how much he can command from Brooklyn given that the Nets were the only team that could offer more than the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (NTMLE) heading into free-agency. The NTMLE is slated to be $14,104,000 million for the 2025-26 season so while Thomas would get a substantial raise, it wouldn’t be what he and others expected him to get.
One subject that MacMahon hit on is the fact that Thomas’ value around the league seems to change depending on whose being asked for their opinion of him. “If you guys give Cam Thomas more than $10 million a year, entire off-season goes from being amazing to (expletive),” NetsDaily reported on Wednesday as how the opinion of Brooklyn’s offseason would shift, according to NetsDaily’s league source.
Thomas seems to have hit free-agency at an unlucky time as most teams did not free up the cap space necessary to pay someone of his elk to a contract befitting of his talent, a deal around $20 million per year according to the general consensus during the season. Time will tell of Thomas ends up getting a contract of that magnitude, but if he doesn’t, his stay with the Nets could be short-lived as he’s entering his prime.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: What is the status of Nets RFA Cam Thomas heading into summer league?
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
