Cam Thomas reportedly to sign $6 million qualifying offer with Brooklyn, become free agent next summer

Cam Thomas wasn’t going to attend round for an additional month to see if issues modified. He made his name.

The restricted free agent is rejecting the gives Brooklyn put in entrance of him and is signing the qualifying supply: A one-year, $6 million contract that offers him a no-trade clause for this season, then makes him an unrestricted free agent subsequent summer time, a narrative damaged by Shams Charania of ESPN.

Brooklyn’s supply to Thomas reportedly was maxed out at two years, round $28 million, with a staff choice on the second 12 months of that deal — a really trade-friendly contract. Thomas, who averaged 24 factors a recreation final season, sees himself as one of many NBA’s elite scorers and wished a multi-year contract that began effectively above $20 million a season and didn’t contain staff choices. Nonetheless, with the Nets having leverage within the negotiations — no staff had the cap house to provide Thomas a proposal sheet like he wished, which Brooklyn doubtless would have matched anyway as was their proper with a restricted free agent — the Nets supplied a contract beginning at about mid-level exception cash of $14.1 million. Thomas might have waited till nearer to the Oct. 1 deadline to signal the qualifying supply, hoping for motion by the beginning of coaching camp, however determined he didn’t assume change was coming and made his transfer.

Thomas has wager on himself. He’s betting that one other season of placing up numbers — he and Michael Porter Jr. could have an all-you-can-eat photographs buffet on a rebuilding Nets staff in want of scoring this season — could have groups leaping at him as a free agent subsequent summer time, when as many as 10 groups are anticipated to have important cap house.

Nonetheless, that comes with danger. The primary is just cash on the desk: Thomas has made $10.5 million complete in 4 NBA seasons; the Nets supply, even in its lowball type, was for 140% more cash subsequent season than his profession earnings. That’s a whole lot of cheddar to go away on the desk, hoping it may be made up later.

The second massive query: Is Thomas’ worth what he thinks it is going to be? Thomas sees himself because the man who averaged 24 factors a recreation final season, who’s an improved creator out of the pick-and-roll, who shot 39.4% from 3 final season and attracts double groups. The notion in league circles is that he’s extra of a quantity scorer, with questions on his effectivity in getting these buckets and his protection. Thomas has a useful ability as a bucket getter, however groups don’t see him as a long-term constructing block and usually are not prepared to pay him as such. When The Athletic’s Fred Katz polled 16 executives about what could be a good contract for Thomas, outcomes had been all around the map, with one government prepared to go up near $30 million a season, however the common was $16.7 million. And to a person, no one wished to do greater than a two-year contract. As one government stated to Katz, Thomas’ scoring may be very eye of the beholder.

Thomas has pushed again onerous in opposition to that notion, calling out The Ringer’s Zach Lowe for saying entrance places of work see him as “an empty calorie ball hog.

Besides that’s the notion in a whole lot of entrance places of work. Thomas has wager massive on himself, now having a 12 months to win over entrance places of work and safe himself a giant bag subsequent summer time when he turns into a free agent.