Cam Thomas Wants to Get Paid, But Are the Brooklyn Nets Willing to Meet His Price?

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas currently headlines a pool of restricted free agents who are struggling to find real demand. Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Quentin Grimes have seen essentially no traction since NBA free agency opened on June 30 for a multitude of reasons.

Perhaps the four players value themselves too high, or maybe the rest of the league just doesn't have the money available to pay them what they deserve.

Brooklyn is in a unique situation compared to its counterparts, given that it held more available cap space than any team in the league heading into the offseason. Since then, the Nets have drafted five players in the first round and taken on Michael Porter Jr.'s massive contract, but there is still money available for Thomas.

The Nets are just hesitant to hand it to him.

On a recent episode of The Brooklyn Boys podcast, ESPN's Tim MacMahon revealed the reason that negotiations have dragged on.

"I would say Cam Thomas wants to be paid, and apparently the Nets aren't too eager to pay him," MacMahon said. "I think that's probably the simplified view of that whole situation."

But why would Brooklyn not jump at the opportunity to retain its homegrown 23-year-old who just averaged 24 points per game last season?

"He's a pretty polarizing player around the league. The guy obviously can score. Like, he can get buckets," MacMahon continued. "'Can he contribute to winning?' I think is a big question around the league."

Even with the apparent concerns, MacMahon doesn't envision Thomas landing anywhere but in Kings County.

"My guess is that he is back in Brooklyn when next season starts," he continued. "Probably not on a long-term deal."

The Nets' hesitation dates as far back as last season. They had an opportunity to ink Thomas to a rookie-scale extension, but failed to do so ahead of the October 21 deadline. Brooklyn did extend Thomas a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent, but that's the last true example of traction fans have been granted.

The longer this situation drags on, the murkier things get—but the expectation is that Thomas will be back at the Barclays Center regardless of how long it takes.