Nets Should Trade Cam Thomas If He Signs His Qualifying Offer

Cam Thomas and the Brooklyn Nets remain at an impasse regarding a new contract. Thomas, 23, has been a restricted free agent since June, garnering very little interest on the open market.

Part of it is due to his asking price, which reportedly ranges between $30 and $40 million. The rest is due to a league-wide shortage of cap space, meaning that Brooklyn is essentially the only franchise that can pay him anywhere near what he wants—which means the Nets have all the leverage.

A realistic conclusion to this saga would be Thomas playing the 2025-26 campaign on the qualifying offer. He gets another chance to prove himself on a team where he'll be subject to plenty of empty calorie stats, and can sign wherever he chooses as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

This is probably the best outcome for Thomas' career—especially if he want to contend for a title.

The bets outcome for Brooklyn, in the event that this is how things play out, would be to trade him.

If Thomas signs the qualifying offer, with the way these negotiations have gone, it's hard to picture him re-upping with the Nets in a calendar year. Plus, while he is a polarizing player, Thomas would be worth more in a trade than he is on the open market, where the bidders have no money.

It's safe to assume he could fetch—at minimum—a first-rounder, given his age and the fact that he's one of the best isolation scorers the NBA has to offer. He can land with an ascending squad who may offer him the possibility of returning the following season, while the Nets continue completely overhauling their roster by dealing their most-promising asset.

While it would be hard to watch Thomas leave Brooklyn, that may be the only resolution to this issue. The contract drama may end up hurting the player-organization relationship to the point where a split is inevitable.

And if that happens, Brooklyn cannot exit the breakup empty-handed. It must be proactive, deeply analyzing any offer that comes its way. The Nets can't afford to just give Thomas away. That would reflect such mismanagement, which could hurt the team's rebuild—and overall image—big-time.

The best-case scenario is obviously the two sides coming together and finding a solution to the gripes, which would keep Thomas in Brooklyn for years to come. But that best-case scenario may not be a reality. Thus, trading Thomas could be the smartest way to end this conflict.