Two future stars in the NBA have headlined the restricted free agents’ market this offseason, Cam Thomas and Jonathan Kuminga, who have been in a gridlock with their respective teams over their contract extensions.
While Kuminga reportedly made his demands clear weeks ago, a source close to Cam Thomas has now revealed his demands from the Nets as well. According to NetsDaily, Thomas believes that he deserves to earn more than what stars like Jalen Green, Tyler Herro, and Immanuel Quickley are getting.
“One league source told NetsDaily where Thomas sees his market, using comparable players around the league: Jalen Green, making $33.3 million per year until 2027-28, when he has a $36 million player option…Immanuel Quickley, making $32.5 million over the next four years.”
“Tyler Herro is averaging $32 million over the next two years…That’s where he sees his market, if not higher,” said the source…This suggests Thomas is searching for an annual salary starting at $30 million, likely closer to $40 million.”
According to NBA Insider Jake L Fischer, Thomas is one of the likely candidates to take the qualifying offer of $6 million for the next season, as he prefers becoming an unrestricted free agent in the coming summer to really test his value in the NBA market.
Analyzing Thomas’ Comparison With Herro, Green, And Quickley
Let’s try to analyze whether Thomas is as valuable to the Nets as the other teams value the players he reportedly compares himself to. Seeking a salary higher than these players shows that he thinks he is more valuable to the Nets than these players are to their respective teams.
Thomas averaged 24.0 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in 2024-25 while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from beyond the three-point arc. In comparison, Tyler Herro averaged 23.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 5.2 rebounds, while shooting 47.2% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc, and in nearly thrice as many games played this season as Thomas (77 games).
This season, Thomas played only 25 games as he was sidelined through most of the season with left hamstring issues. Only Quickley is the one player other than Thomas who has had similar injury concerns, as they both missed a major chunk of last season.
But by that time, Quickley had already signed his extension with the Raptors. Before the elbow injury, Quickley did not display any signs of being injury-prone in any way.
Meanwhile, Jalen Green averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 2024-25 as he did not miss a single game last season. He shot 42.3% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc. In the same season, Quickley averaged 17.1 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 42.0-37.8 shooting splits from the field and beyond the arc.
From a purely statistical perspective, Thomas may have identified the players who play a similar game to him. But one key thing to note in his comparisons is that two out of the three players he compares himself to are no longer with the team that drafted them.
When Jalen Green signed his extension with the Rockets, it was described as a trade-friendly contract, as they knew his long-term future with the team was not set.
And Quickley signed his extension when he joined the Raptors, and not before that. Therefore, it is likely that if Thomas does not get the value he thinks he deserves, he will look to be traded this season itself or wait out one more season to become an unrestricted free agent.
In my opinion, from the Nets’ perspective, the key reason why they do not want to extend Thomas just yet on such a high-value contract is clear. Thomas averaged 20 points per game while taking nearly 18 shots per night for the past two seasons. That is very inefficient on a non-rebuilding team.
And since the Nets recently acquired a high-volume shooter who has been more efficient and consistent at that in Michael Porter Jr, it is unlikely that the Nets will extend Cam Thomas on a long-term contract since he has an injury-prone history and inefficient tendencies.
If Cam Thomas fights for his place on the Nets’ roster and shows them that he can become more efficient over the next season, then the Nets might reconsider their stand on his contract valuation, but presently, it seems like he will wait out one season to head into unrestricted free agency next summer.
