The Milwaukee Bucks stunningly brought the Cam Thomas era to an abrupt end on Monday. The Bucks waived Thomas less than two months after signing him on Feb. 8, and head coach Doc Rivers was asked about the decision in his press conference before Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Yeah, it was just a tough one, honestly,” Rivers said, via The Mirror US. “We ran out of bodies, and at the end of the day, there were the guys you had to make a decision on. I thought Cam was really good overall, and he may be somebody we revisit. Just where we’re at right now, not really in the hunt as when we signed him, we thought it was the right thing to do for the rest of the guys right now.”
The Bucks had picked up Thomas after he was waived by the Brooklyn Nets on Feb. 5, right after the trade deadline passed. The 24-year-old actually had a great start to life with his new team, dropping 34 points in his second game against the Orlando Magic. He followed that up with a 27-point outing against the New Orleans Pelicans in his fourth game.
Thomas then fired some shots at the Nets for not believing in him, or anyone else, for that matter. It was looking like he might just prove them wrong, but it wasn’t to be.
Thomas would see his role with the Bucks diminish as time went by. He averaged 19.1 minutes per game in February, but only 14.6 in March. Rivers interestingly didn’t even play Thomas on March 15 against the Indiana Pacers, or on March 17 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was then waived less than a week after that Cavaliers game.
Rivers was asked here why Thomas fell out of favor with the Bucks’ coaching staff, and he decided against revealing what had happened.
“There are things that we don’t need to talk about,” Rivers said. “That’s not anybody’s business, like I said before. That’s where, as a coach, you have to make decisions on what’s best for the team at that time. People don’t understand that. They start talking about other stuff, and that’s not for anyone to know.”
That was quite cryptic. Thomas’ Bucks career ended up lasting just 18 games. He averaged 10.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game for them. We’re unlikely to see Thomas on the court again this season. He cannot play in the postseason, as he was waived after the March 1 Playoff Eligibility Waiver deadline.
The Bucks have used the roster spot created by Thomas’ departure on forward Pete Nance. Nance was on a two-way deal and has now gotten a standard NBA contract.
The fact that the Bucks, in a way, chose Nance, who went undrafted in 2023, over Thomas certainly isn’t a good look for him. He has been criticized for being a ball hog who doesn’t offer much apart from scoring, and that notion has only strengthened following his release.
Thomas averaged 22.5 points in 2023-24 and 24.0 points in 2024-25 for the Nets, and while that is hard to do, he might need to change his game a bit if he is to have a long and successful NBA career. He has already cost himself millions of dollars, and you’d hope he turns things around.
As for the Bucks, they dropped to 29-42 after losing 129-96 to the Clippers. They’re set to miss even the play-in tournament, and you wonder if Rivers is going to be the head coach for too much longer.
