Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas came into the 2025-26 NBA season following a complicated offseason in which he came back to the Nets despite not getting the contract offers he wanted. Brooklyn got Thomas to come back on his one-year, $6 million qualifying offer (QO) and while the Nets benefitted in terms of salary cap, it also makes Thomas’ future murky at best.
“Showing a more well-rounded game, and an ability to play off-ball more, will help both veteran guards lift their value going into the offseason,” Keith Smith wrote of Thomas and Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes in his recent article for Spotrac. Like Grimes, Thomas was looking for a payday around $30 million per season, but ended up taking the QO to have more control over what he will happen to him next summer.
“One last note when it comes to trades for Grimes and Thomas: Because both signed their qualifying offers, they have no-trade clauses for this year, because they lose their Bird rights if they get traded,” Smith continued. “That could impact the acquiring team’s ability to re-sign either player. That makes things a bit tricky for them on the trade market. But if things hit a point where they prefer a fresh start, Grimes or Thomas could approve a trade to a new destination.”
Bird rights, named after former Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, allows a team to re-sign a player even if the deal were to put the team over the salary cap by signing the player. Where this could be a factor for Thomas is that if he requests to be traded elsewhere, he would lose his Bird rights and the chance to get his first big payday in the NBA because the team signing him wouldn’t be able to exceed the salary cap.
Ultimately, Thomas will be spending this entire season trying to build up his value so that when he enters free-agency next offseason, he should be able to command the kind of salary he wants as an unrestricted free-agent. However, if Brooklyn shifts away from featuring Thomas within the offense, he could opt to go to another team if he feels if that move is better for the next step of his career.
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