Cam Thomas' emergence has been pleasant surprise for Nets
Nets guard Cam Thomas reacts after a three point shot against the Suns during the first quarter at Barclays Center on Tuesday. Credit: Brad Penner
Can Cam Thomas do it again?
OK, that isn’t the biggest question on minds of Nets fans heading into Thursday's trade deadline But with all the drama swirling around this team, the surprise emergence of this young scorer is at least one positive with which to hang on.t
The 21-year-old guard has been making history since the departure of Kyrie Irving from the Nets lineup, scoring 44, 47 and 43 points. Thomas became the youngest player ever to crack 40 in three straight games when he scored 43 in 116-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.
“It’s really surreal. Just glad I have my name in the history books being this young,” said Thomas, the 27th overall pick in the 2021 draft. “Obviously I’d rather have the win since it sounds better if you have these way fun games with the two wins that we lost. But it’s just good to have my name in history. And I’m still going to embrace it.”
Yet, as exciting as Thomas is to watch, the Nets are 1-2 since Irving demanded a trade and was then sent along with big man Markieff Morris to Dallas for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and three draft picks.
The team, which had won 18 of 20 and looked poised to make a run deep into the playoffs before Kevin Durant was injured, now looks like a team that will be lucky to make it to the second round of the playoffs – even with Durant back on the court.
Neither Durant nor general manager Sean Marks have spoken to the media since Irving announced last week that he wanted to be traded. Durant, who asked to be traded this past summer but ultimately decided to rescind the request when the Nets couldn’t find a deal they liked, isn’t going to be happy to play on a team that has such limited postseason possibilities.
According to multiple reports, Durant has been engaged in talks with Nets owner Joe Tsai and Marks about the future of the franchise.
The Nets reportedly are not interested in moving Durant before Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline ESPN reported that the Nets have been actively trying to upgrade their roster. Teams, anticipating another Durant trade request this summer, are said to not be lining up to help them.
The team is optimistic that Durant, who is out with an MCL sprain he suffered in Miami on Jan. 9, will be back after the All-Star break. The 34-year-old was having an MVP-like year when he went down with the knee injury, averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists on the way to leading the Nets back to near the top of the Eastern Conference after a tumultuous start to the season.
The Nets received “a really good report” from the doctor on Durant’s knee Monday, according to Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. Durant is now on the court working, Vaughn said, but has not done contact as of yet.
Vaughn was asked Tuesday if he thinks Durant believes in the team and franchise’s ability to win.
Said Vaughn: “Definitely don’t want to speculate along those lines, but what I can say is [that] we have a group that continues to play hard and play a brand of basketball that is appealing to teammates, appealing to the league. We play together, we play extremely hard, we don't complicate things. A lot of things that Kevin stands for and has reiterated to me that he believes in, so I have not gotten any indication from him that that's changed.”
At least not yet.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
