NBA Teams Reportedly View Nets' Cam Thomas as Bench Player Seeking Star-Level Deal

This Cam Thomas discourse may be starting to get a little out of control.

Debating his value? Totally fair. But debating on whether he's even a starting-caliber player in the NBA? Now, that's a stretch.

The Brooklyn Nets' guard has been available on the restricted free agent market for nearly a month and hasn't received much interest, nor any signals from Brooklyn that he'll be handed an offer valued at his desired number.

In a recent article by Grant Afseth on Fastbreak Journal, an Eastern Conference scout and Western Conference executive both offered their opinions on Thomas.

“He can flat-out score, no doubt about that," the Eastern Conference scout said. “But teams want more than a bucket-getter at that price point. You’re talking $25–30 million per year — there’s got to be some defensive buy-in, some playmaking, some winning impact. That’s where the hesitation is.”

That's an incredibly fair take. Thomas' all-around skills still need some work before he can command that kind of cash, but at least the respect was shown to his ability to score.

The Western Conference exec didn't speak as glowingly of the 23-year-old guard.

“If you’re building a team, are you giving Cam Thomas that kind of money to be your top option? Probably not. And if he’s your third guy, that’s a big number for someone who doesn’t defend or create for his teammates at a high level,” they told Afseth.

All of this discourse is likely due to the "inflated" stats Thomas put up over the last two seasons. Yes, it is true that Brooklyn has lacked the talent around Thomas to truly evaluate whether his monster scoring totals are "empty calories" or not.

But the thing is, Thomas hasn't only been doing this over the last two seasons. Even when the Nets were closing their superteam chapter with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden, Thomas possessed an elite ability to put the ball in the hoop.

He may not be worth $30 million annually—as of right now—but to go as far as saying he's more suited for a bench role is crazy. And that's exactly what a scout for a playoff team last season said.

“He’s a talented scorer, but he’s kind of stuck in the middle right now. He wants star money, but a lot of teams see him more like a microwave scorer off the bench,” they said.

Luckily for Thomas, assuming he remains in Brooklyn for the 2025-26 season, he'll have plenty of time to further develop under head coach Jordi Fernandez in an attempt to prove all these league employees incorrect.