The Brooklyn Nets spent most of this offseason trying to bring back guard Cam Thomas on the kind of contract that both sides could live with moving forward. Brooklyn did not budge in their negotiations with Thomas and eventually, Thomas accepted his $6 million qualifying offer (QO). Did the Nets make a mistake by not paying Thomas what he was looking for?

“This summer, that squeeze was exacerbated by a lack of cap space around the league. Only one team had significant cap room —the Nets — and they didn’t want to burn it in the wrong places,” The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov wrote. Vorkunov was alluding to the fact that notable restricted free-agents like Thomas had to wait what seemed like forever to be signed by their respective teams.

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“That has forced changes in behavior. Look at the Nets. Less than a decade ago, in general manager Sean Marks’ first rebuild, they wrote big restricted free agent offers to Otto Porter, Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson,” Vorkunov continued. “But, paying premium money for flawed players comes at a cost that wasn’t apparent in those simpler days.”

What Vorkunov was discussing was the new reality of the NBA in that teams are more penalized than ever before if they overspend, whether that money is worth it or not. For a team like the Nets that is still in the early stages of its rebuild, it’s clear that they did not want to get anywhere close to either of the aprons. However, Thomas’ performance this upcoming season could be an indicator of whether Brooklyn made the wrong decision.

Thomas, 23, is coming off the best season of his career after averaging 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. The Nets are once again expected to be one of the worst teams in the league in the 2025-26 campaign and if they end up with a top-5 pick, Brooklyn could change its mind at that time depend on the player they’re able to get in the 2026 NBA Draft.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Did the Nets make a mistake in their negotiations with Cam Thomas?