Will Cam Thomas’ Gamble Redefine How NBA Teams Handle Restricted Free Agents?

Of all the 2025 restricted free agent dominoes, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas was the first to fall. Once Thomas signed his $6 million qualifying offer, he became the first out of the foursome consisting of him, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Quentin Grimes to get a deal done.

Thomas initially was reportedly asking for somewhere in the $30-40 million range for an annual salary, an asking price Brooklyn was ultimately unwilling to meet. The 23-year-old will now be a restricted free agent next summer, allowing him to sign wherever he chooses.

It's rare that a player with Thomas' scoring ability at his age doesn't end up getting paid big money from the team that drafted them, but is that destined to become the norm going forward? Well, that debate is nuanced.

First, Thomas is viewed as an incredibly polarizing player. His value has been all over the place, dating as far back as last season, and opinions on him and his game may be even less agreed-upon than his value. So at least in Thomas' case, this context matters.

The NBA is also in a unique stage presently. Cap space is hard to come by, and was especially this summer, but that's an issue that should be resolved in one year's time. There will be teams ready to throw their money at Thomas, and there won't be anything Brooklyn can do about it.

Those are the two variables that are strictly unique to the Thomas-Nets negotiations in 2025. The principles, however, can be applied regardless of the player or team.

What this situation should teach front offices, as Brooklyn likely begins preparing to lose its top offensive weapon, is to get deals done before the offseason even starts. The Nets had plenty of opportunities to negotiate a new contract throughout the regular season, and if there were signs that those negotiations weren't progressing, Brooklyn probably should've traded him.

Getting deals done before they need to be saves time, money and stress in the future—and the Nets are about to feel those consequences.

Now, this hypothesis could be completely wrong. Thomas could re-up with the Nets next summer and continue blossoming into the franchise legend so many believe he could be. That's absolutely a possibility, it's just not likely in the slightest. Still, perhaps the way Brooklyn handled Thomas' restricted free agency won't come back to haunt them.

Unlikely, but it is possible. Guess we'll just have to wait until next summer.