Brooklyn Nets’ Value of Cam Thomas Shown in Recent Draft

At the 2025 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets made a record five first round picks, maximizing their chances at landing stars or future rotational-level players.

It started with taking a jumbo connector in BYU’s Egor Demin at No. 8, before a wide gap in selecting international point guard Nolan Traore at No. 19. From there they would gamble on a high-potential wing in North Carolina’s Drake Powell, before two more on-ball bets in Ulm’s Ben Saraf and Michigan unicorn Danny Wolf.

While the Nets’ draft wasn’t beloved by experts and other organizations, it was at least consistent, with the team opting to take several players capable of play-making and handling the ball.

Brooklyn’s draft picks indirectly said plenty about the direction the organization wants to move, even potentially hinting to how much they value a certain free agent, who remains unsigned.

Despite playing in just 25 games, guard Cam Thomas saw a blistering stretch of games for the Nets, scoring 24.0 points on 44% shooting across 25 contests. He’s a proven scorer, seeing similar numbers the year before across 66 games, with a long-standing track record of seeing the ball through the hoop.

Still, the Nets don’t seem to be highly eager to keep him on the squad long-term. Especially at the price point Thomas reportedly feels he deserves as a potential lead option.

Per Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer: “Cam Thomas thinks of himself as one of the most elite playmaker scorers in the NBA, and he wants to be compensated as such. But to my understanding, the Nets have not offered Thomas anything more than a two-year deal with a team option on the second year in the $14 [million] AAV range.”

With the context of the new contract battle, the Nets’ draft picks make more sense. In opposition to scoring dominance, the team has opted to instead put their eggs in the basket of true connectors and play-makers. Players like Demin, Traore, Saraf and Wolf, who at their pinnacle, should have the decision-making and processing speed to playing winning basketball.

And there's plenty of merit to the Nets' decisions. While Thomas is certainly a talented scorer — one who could be more than capable of positive impact for an NBA squad — he likely doesn’t offer much for the organization on their current timeline. While Zach Lowe's "empty calories" retort was somewhat harsh, it's certainly hard to envision the same output from Thomas on a contending level squad.

Regardless, the Nets now move into a new era with five shiny new rookies, all of which will need time to cook as developmental projects.