Nets’ Cam Thomas reflects on growth this season, MIP award
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets‘ 2023-24 season ended on Sunday after they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, but one could argue that their postseason hopes ended before that. One of the few bright spots that came out of this disappointing season for Brooklyn was the emergence of Cam Thomas and how he burst onto the scene.
“I thought we was in a good spot this year,” Thomas said during his exit interview on Monday. Over the course of this season, Thomas went from projected bench scorer to being the best offensive player on a Nets team that struggled to find another source of consistent production. Thomas found himself in a new role and exceeded expectations when Brooklyn needed him the most.
“We started off good,” Thomas explained. “I mean, we lost some tough close games, all one possession games early. But then we found our stride, got some wins. And then i think we just hit that wall as a team, we couldn’t really recover from it. It was tough. But I mean, we always showed flashes of the kind of team we can be, you know, getting up and down, guarding, making 3s, just making shots as a team.”
The Nets began this season with a 13-10 record despite some tough, close losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks, two of the better teams in the NBA this season. However, after beating the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 13 to get to 13-10, Brooklyn proceeded to lose their next five games against better competition and it seems like the Nets never regained their competitiveness after that.
“Just knowing that I could be doubled a lot more, coming off screens and stuff, or even in the one-on-one situations, reading where the double will come from, seeing where teams double me, and the way teams double me,” Thomas said when asked what he will be working on this offseason.
Thomas had the best season of his career by far and that was due to playing on a more consistent basis and having a much larger role compared to his first two seasons in the NBA. Despite getting his opportunity in his third season, Thomas never lost confidence in himself or in the chance for his ascension to happen in Brooklyn.
“I always believed in myself and I know the kind of player that I am. I just want to keep working. I never really had doubts of not playing. I believe in myself and my ability the best way I can. Sometimes, it was just a timing thing. I never really had doubts about it happening here. I love it here. I got drafted here, so I’ll always have a place for it. I never really had doubts about playing here,” Thomas said.
While he isn’t likely to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award this season, Thomas believes that he should be in the conversation. “I should definitely be top three going from barely playing in the rotation and having little spurts in the season to going all the way up an 11-point jump to 22 points per game. Any other year, that goes noticed. But this year, it’s kind of gone unnoticed,” Thomas explained.
