Cam Thomas, a flier with the Brooklyn Nets, is an intriguing prospect. Their first-round choice out of LSU is a score-first guard who can make three-pointers and handle the ball effectively, but needs to improve his off-ball play and defense. As a result, he might not be a contributor right immediately for a Brooklyn team that already has a lot of scoring but needs everything else to back up Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving.
Thomas, on the other hand, is having a successful summer league by doing what he does best: scoring. He had a clutch performance against the Wizards on Thursday at Cox Pavilion, hitting a game-tying shot in overtime and then a game-winning runner in sudden death second OT.
The game-tying shot was a crisp stepback three-pointer that evaded the Washington defender. This is the type of shotmaking that makes him such a fascinating possibility.
The game-winning shot, on the other hand, was a complete blunder. He dribbled up the court, apparently trying to set up a shot in isolation against Wizards youngster Corey Kispert, but he almost lost his footing. Then, as the shot clock ticked down, he fired up a one-legged floater from behind the three-point line in the midst of the chaos. It was accepted.
“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.
