The Brooklyn Nets stunned the basketball world when they waived Cam Thomas after the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline. Thomas wouldn’t be without a team for too long, though, as the Milwaukee Bucks signed him for the rest of the season on Feb. 8, and he has now fired some shots at the Nets in an interview with the New York Post.
“That’s just who they are,” Thomas said. “They don’t believe in nobody.”
The Nets had selected Thomas with the 27th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He’d prove to be far better than you’d expect a player selected that low to be, but this never really seemed to be a happy marriage.
Thomas and the Nets failed to agree on an extension in 2024, which meant he’d become a restricted free agent in 2025. No deal could be struck last summer either, though, with the guard reportedly rejecting two contract offers.
Thomas ended up accepting the one-year, $6 million qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026. You’d imagined his tenure with the Nets would end after the 2025-26 season, but the team cut ties a few months earlier.
Thomas, who averaged 15.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in his Nets career, was asked why he thinks the team never believed in him, and he isn’t quite sure.
“I never asked. I don’t even care anymore. I’m on a different team. I don’t want to talk about them much. But that’s what it was. They didn’t believe,” Thomas said. “Always thought — I don’t know. They always thought something was better, I guess. I don’t know. Always chasing something.”
Thomas is a player who splits opinion. The 24-year-old is a terrific scorer (averaged 24.0 points per game in 2024-25), but doesn’t do a whole lot else on the court. Thomas has also been called a ball hog, a label he isn’t too fond of. He believes people haven’t actually been looking at the facts and watching the games.
Well, the Nets clearly were watching closely, and they weren’t dazzled by what they saw. Were they wrong? Well, time will tell.
The Bucks ultimately decided to take a chance on Thomas, and he has been up and down. He racked up 34 points in a 116-108 win over the Orlando Magic on Feb. 11, and had 27 points in a 139-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 20.
While those were impressive performances, there have been some duds as well. Most recently, Thomas had seven points (2-9 FG), two rebounds, one assist, and one block in the Bucks’ 127-98 loss to the New York Knicks on Friday.
Thomas is now averaging 14.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.1 blocks per game as a Buck. It will be quite interesting to see whether this partnership extends beyond this season.
Towards the end of this regular season is when Thomas will get a chance to send a message to the Nets. The Bucks face off against them on April 7 in Brooklyn and on April 10 in Milwaukee. You should expect Thomas to go off in at least one of them.
As for the here and now, the Bucks dropped to 26-32 with this loss to the Knicks. We’ll see them and Thomas in action next against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
