The education of Cam Thomas continues.
Right now he’s going through some tough lessons. But once he learns them, both he and the Nets will be better off for having gone through those growing pains.
For the offensively-gifted Thomas, getting buckets has always appeared easy. But since returning from injury, he’s been in a rare shooting slump, which — combined with some lackluster defense — has seen the young guard mired in a malaise.
“Yeah, just still trying to find my rhythm, get my rhythm down [in] time,” Thomas said this week. “And you know, it’s only my fourth or fifth game back. So I’m still not really in a rhythm like I was before. But I feel like I’m getting there slowly. Slowly but surely. So, just keep playing and staying true. And just keep believing in my work.”
At this point it’s been seven games since Thomas returned from a sprained ankle; and for the last half-dozen, his rhythm has clearly been off on both ends of the floor.
After Thomas’ impressive 26-point return to the court — shooting 11-for-21 in a looked-like-he’d-never-been-gone performance against Charlotte, he was averaging a team-high 26.8 points on 48.4 percent shooting.
Things have gone sideways since, for a variety of reasons.
Thomas will come into Saturday’s tilt at Golden State averaging 16.7 points in his last six games, but shooting just 35.0 percent overall with only 2.7 assists and 2.2 turnovers. He was 5-of-13 in Thursday’s loss at Denver, and that 38.5 mark was actually his best shooting percentage this month.
“That’s the name of the game: Sometimes you’re hot, sometimes you’re not,” Cam Johnson said of Thomas. “You got to ride the waves when you do, and figure out how to turn it around when you when you kind of fall out of it.
“But everybody that’s played on that court, everybody’s playing in the league, understands that that’s part of it. That’s what comes with it and you just have to continue to work on your game, stay in the gym, stay level-headed. And just believe in yourself.”
Self-belief has never been an issue for Thomas.
But even after making some clutch 3-pointers late to help spark Wednesday’s win at the Suns — spoiling the debut of former teammate Kevin Durant’s new Big Three in Phoenix — Thomas’ touch has been off, especially on his floaters.
“Yeah, [it’s about] just staying focused, staying locked-in, trusting that I’m going to get some good shots,” Thomas said. “I knew I could get to that a little bit, so I made them; but it’s not how I was when I first started, so it really irritates me. So just try to keep working, and game-by-game it’s getting better. I feel better out there every time, so it’s coming for sure.”
Just not as quickly as Thomas would like.
Or as fast as the Nets need, with Thomas expected to provide a second scoring option to go alongside Mikal Bridges.
“For sure, we’re going to need him to score,” Bridges said. “We’re going to need him to do everything: Play-make, defend, all of that.”
The ‘all of that’ part is the rub. If Bridges goes into a funk, he’s a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up. Spencer Dinwiddie is their primary creator and Nic Claxton their rim protector and rebounder. Thomas does little of the above.
Thomas is a scorer, whose playmaking and defense have been called into question.
A new role
The third-year guard is an aggregate minus-25 during his skid — including minus-45 in his last three. He bottomed out with a minus-25 in Thursday’s loss at Denver, as the holes in his game have become increasingly exposed this month.
Whether it was Hawks assistant Igor Kokoškov — who had inside intel on Thomas from a season on Brooklyn’s staff — giving him his first taste of aggressive doubles from the start, harassing him into a six-point, one-assist, five-turnover nightmare, or getting picked on defensively by the Suns’ stars Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, the kind of burden he never used to have to bear.
“Yeah, it’s interesting,” Vaughn said. “He is learning how to start, which he’s doing now, and play both ends of the floor…that doesn’t happen when you’re coming off the bench. You can hide a little bit, and we can scheme a little bit. And so that challenge on both ends of the floor he’s accepting and learning.
“The beginning part of the offensive piece is learning how to play with Mikal, learning how to play with [Cam Johnson], Spencer, who’s our point guard and initiates our offense. And so how do you get yourself involved with the game without going outside of the flow and then still being productive? And still taking efficient shots? The best ones are when your teammates expect you’re going to take them. So that balance right there, that’s what he’s facing. And then the consistency of a young player doing it every night. It’s a great challenge for him.”
That youth is what makes Thomas so tantalizing. He’s just 22 and still on his rookie deal through next season.
Dorian Finney-Smith — the man he supplanted in the starting lineup — is 30.
While the Nets are 4-2 with Thomas starting alongside Dinwiddie, Bridges, Johnson and Claxton, that unit has been outscored by seven points per 100 possessions. Finney-Smith is a plus-8.7 with that aforementioned quartet, and his game might be a better fit, given that he ranks fifth in the league in catch-and-shoot 3-pointers (.458).
Thomas is too talented and prolific not to play a huge role. But the question remains about whether that offensive punch is better suited being allowed to cook carrying the second unit, or better used trying to mesh with the starters.
“Overall, the judgment of the looks, he’ll continue to learn from [the idea that] we start with a group that you really can’t help off of,” Vaughn said. “And so that’s the combination of being aggressive and — this is the whole group, especially that starting group — not settling.
“So it’s going to take some more of us being together, and understanding when those shots are going to be OK to take [and] when the shots are going to be ‘I might need to create for my teammate.’ Then it’ll come back around … ‘I really trust that these guys will make the right decision with the basketball.’ But sometimes this is appetizing, appealing when that one-on-one matchup is there; now we’ve just got to continue to grow and making the right decision every time.”
While Thomas’ shooting funk is temporary — he’s too good not to come around quickly — his growth on defense will be key to his ultimate value.
His Defensive Rating (117.8) and Net Rating (minus-7.4) this month are both second-worst on the team. On Thursday, the Suns engaged in some obvious elephant hunting, prompting Dinwiddie to come over and double to help Thomas when Phoenix isolated on him. Sacramento took full advantage of him defensively, too.
“I love this game: It teaches you so many valuable lessons,” Vaughn said. “I looked down at the boxscore at one point — he was 3-for-10. And I’m still going to believe in what he can do and how he can impact the game. The two times I brought him over to talk to me, it was about a defensive rotation. So he continues to learn and accept the coaching and want do well for his teammates.”
Thomas’ education is ongoing.
But he and the Nets will be better off for it.
Want to catch a game? The Nets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Paris, by way of Brooklyn
The Nets will cross the Atlantic next month to play in Paris. And they’re going to bring a taste of Brooklyn to the City of Light.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will feature the Nets vs. Cleveland at the Accor Arena on Jan. 11. And from Jan. 8 to 13, the Nets will create a series of experiences for Parisians, including: a Brooklyn-themed pizzeria, a tribute concert to the Notorious B.I.G., free contests and a collaboration with fashion brand, KidSuper.
Beginning Jan. 8, in collaboration with Sonny’s Pizza, the Nets will open the doors of their Brooklyn Nets Pizzeria.
On Jan. 10, the Nets — with Atlantic/Rhino Records and The Notorious B.I.G. Estate — will present an orchestral tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. at Théâtre Du Châtelet, a symphony performance of Biggie’s multi-platinum Ready to Die album. Nets players will attend the red-carpet event, along with international celebrities.
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