Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been getting his first taste of NBA free-agency and based on all of the reports, the experience isn’t going well for him. Given that Thomas is a restricted free-agent, Brooklyn has the leverage when it comes to signing him, but there appears to be disagreements over how much Thomas should be paid this summer.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post recently reported that the Nets and Thomas are at a standstill within their contract negotiations and it seems that the issue could come down to how much money Brooklyn pays Thomas per season. Lewis made a point to note that Thomas views himself in the same tier with players like Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley and Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, two players that are making around $30 million per year.
The question at this point of the offseason is whether or not the Nets should pay Thomas what he’s asking for, especially at a point in the summer where no other team can currently offer him anything close to what he’s asking for. NBA insider Jake Fischer reported recently on a Bleacher Report livestream that Brooklyn has offered Thomas as many as two years on a new contract for the Mid-Level Non-Taxpayer exception or $14.1 million per season.
Assuming that the Nets indeed proposed that deal to Thomas, it seems that the reason he remains unsigned is because he either wants more years, more money, or both. During the 2024-25 season, there were a few reports projecting Thomas to get somewhere between $20 million per year and $30 million per year due to how well he played when he was available and what the market could have dictated for him.
The Nets and the Utah Jazz are the only teams with cap space, otherwise known as positive cap space for the purpose of this article, but there are plenty of other teams with access to the NTMLE. With Brooklyn able to match any offer sheet that Thomas gets from other teams, it seems that the former LSU Tiger is most likely playing next season with the Nets, but time will tell if it will be on a new contract or on the $5.99 million qualifying offer.