The NBA is a business. Anyone who follows the League knows that money comes first and feelings are secondary (like the recent Kyrie Irving contract situation). However, it seems as if some of these highly intelligent coaches have a tendency to outsmart themselves and overthink basic basketball principles. After Brooklyn traded their duo of star players, Cam Thomas seized the opportunity to showcase what he’s always done: scoring the ball in an elite manner. In the three-game stretch prior to receiving new teammates, Thomas averaged 44.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG with 56/56/90 shooting splits in 35.6 MPG (including one game off the bench). In the following game, he struggled to shoot the ball but still managed to finish with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Immediately upon the arrival of the newly acquired Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, Thomas was relegated back to the bench—where his playing time is limited yet again.
There are a lot of problems with this situation. Remember Linsanity in 2011-12' People would have been absolutely outraged if Mike D’Antoni benched Jeremy Lin in the midst of his special run—and he only scored over 30 once! Meanwhile, Thomas goes out and scores over 40 in three straight contests, receives a half-hearted thank you, and then has to just go back to bench duty like nothing ever happened. Sure, the Nets want to stay competitive for whatever odd reason (likely to save face after having to blow up yet another roster) but it seems like having someone who can threaten to go for insane scoring totals on a nightly basis would be a smart method to try and win games—especially in the current NBA. If anything, Brooklyn’s lack of identity and structure made them one of the better spots for this to occur, in theory.
Perhaps the lack of loyalty shown to someone who has been within the organization is what makes this so irritating. Even if Bridges, Johnson, and Spencer Dinwiddie have lofty expectations coming in, there are still enough minutes to experiment with Thomas—who is genuinely among the best scorers in the NBA. This sentiment is not a result of his recent scoring outburst, but rather a reaffirmation that Thomas has proven himself at every single stage. Thomas is an elite shot-creator with a quick burst, sharp first step, and sophistocated array of dribble combos to get clean looks. He can generate space with relative ease against any level of defender. Thomas possesses legitimate 40-foot shooting range, but can truly score the ball from anywhere on the floor while drawing fouls and getting to the line at a seemignly nonstop rate. Beyond the obvious solution of just playing him, why wouldn’t you just make a trade to give him a chance to be more than a heat-check guy' For as much as the general public loves guys like Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford, it’s amazing that there isn’t more outrage for Thomas. Regardless of how the rest of the season concludes, this is still just the start of his unique journey.