{"id":81781,"date":"2025-12-26T20:46:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T20:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/81781\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T20:46:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T20:46:20","slug":"cam-thomas-finally-returning-to-nets-as-roster-evolution-raises-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/81781\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Thomas finally returning to Nets as roster evolution raises questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Cam Thomas is finally making his Nets return.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s coming back to a different Nets team. And he\u2019s going to have to change with it.<\/p>\n

After nearly eight weeks out with a hamstring strain, Thomas is back practicing<\/a> and is slated to play Saturday at the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

It will be the 24-year-old guard\u2019s first appearance since getting hurt on Nov. 5 at Indiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s expected to play,\u201d said Nets coach Jordi Fernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo pressure \u2026 He\u2019s done a good job getting himself back into shape and healthy. And we just want to see his superpowers out there. So, no pressure for him to have to do too much: Just be yourself and help the team compete and go get a win.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynCam Thomas during a Dec. 18 Nets game. Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

That would be new. The Nets haven\u2019t won a game with Thomas on the floor yet this season.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn had been 0-7 going into that Pacers tilt, last in the league in both Net Rating (minus-15) and Defensive Rating (128.5), the latter on pace for the worst in history.<\/p>\n

But since Thomas\u2019 injury in the opening minutes of that tilt, they\u2019re 9-12<\/a> with the sixth-best Defensive Rating (111.7) and are middle-of-the-pack in Net Rating (minus-0.4).<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to get back on the court and play,\u201d said Thomas. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously good seeing them playing well. I just want to get back on the court and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

A long-armed swarming defense and egalitarian quick-passing offense hunting open 3-pointers has been the order of the day, and it\u2019s worked.<\/p>\n

And Thomas \u2014 who has thrived on iso ball and feasted in the midrange \u2014 will adjust to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, last year before he got hurt, we still played like (that), not just shooting 3s but finding the open shot; and he was great at finding those shots. I just want him to balance his scoring ability with his playmaking ability,\u201d said Fernandez. \u201cThat means that he\u2019s creating not just points for himself, but points for others. And if he does that, it\u2019s what the team needs from him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen it before he got hurt \u2026 Last year the game at Chicago and at Cleveland, he had outstanding games where he scored at a high level but also assisted at a high level. So, that\u2019s what I want from CT: To impact the game at every single level. I want him to be solid defensively, a good defender, a great playmaker, and a great efficient scorer. He\u2019s more than capable to do all those three things. If he doesn\u2019t, then I\u2019m going to have to sit down with him and try to help them get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynCam Thomas during a November 2025 game against the Pacers. AP<\/p>\n

In his final appearance last season before suffering a third and final hamstring injury, Thomas had 24 points in Chicago but handed out a career-high 10 assists. He\u2019s capable of using his gravity to draw double teams. But can he swing the ball quickly? Can he defend?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the Nets \u2014 and other scouts across the league \u2014 are going to find out.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery team adjusts when a certain player goes out. Every team that I saw adjusts to who\u2019s out there playing. We\u2019ll figure it out. Just go out there and play ball. It\u2019s not rocket science,\u201d said Thomas. \u201cWe just go out there, figure out who\u2019s out there together and figure out how to play amongst each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s been a while since we all played with each other in a real game. Obviously, it\u2019s going to be a learning curve for a few games, but we\u2019ll figure it out quick. We\u2019re pros; we\u2019ll figure it out. So, just going to make it back on the court and play, figure it out and just try to keep stacking wins.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 Cam Thomas is finally making his Nets return. But he\u2019s coming back to a different Nets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,355,99,21,9,24,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-81781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}