Cam Thomas is an interesting flier for the Brooklyn Nets. Their first round pick out of LSU is a score-first guard who can shoot three-pointers well and handle the ball, but has a lot of work to do as an off-ball player and defender. As a result, he may not be a factor right away for a Brooklyn team that has a lot of scoring already, but needs everything else to supplement Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
That said, Thomas is having a productive summer league by doing what he does best: scoring. On Thursday in a game against the Wizards at Cox Pavilion, he had a clutch performance in hitting a game-tying shot in overtime and then a game-winning runner in the sudden death second overtime.
The game-tying shot was clean — a stepback three-pointer that the Washington defender couldn’t get to. This is the kind of shotmaking that makes him an intriguing prospect.
The game-winning shot, however, was madness. He dribbled up — clearly looking create a shot in isolation against Wizards rookie Corey Kispert — but almost lost his dribble. Then, amid the scramble as the shot clock wound down, threw up a one-legged floater from behind the three-point line. It went in.
“That’s what big time players do — big time players make plays,” Thomas said in his postgame TV interview. “And I wanted to win so bad, so I wasn’t going to let my team lose.” He added that, when he lost his handle and saw the shot clock running down, his only thought was to ‘get it up.’
It’s still early to see what Thomas’ role will be with the Nets and if there’s a place for him as a rookie, but his Summer League shotmaking is a reason to remember to keep an eye on him.