The Brooklyn Nets may have dropped their 2024-25 NBA preseason debut against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, but there were bright spots from the outing. Keon Johnson's 14 points off the bench led the Nets in their 115-106 loss, and Ziaire Williams acted as a Swiss Army Knife. However, Cam Thomas was equally as impressive. Thomas has high expectations going into the regular season, and he has already caught Jordi Fernandez's eye.
As expected, Thomas started at one of Brooklyn's guard spots on Wednesday. He did not light the hoop on fire as he has in the past, but he played his role well. Thomas scored 12 points in 17 minutes. Jordi Fernandez and the Nets want Thomas to improve his efficiency, and Fernandez believes Thomas took a respectable step forward against the Clippers:
"He scored 12 points on four shots. Where I come from, that’s pretty elite," Fernandez said on Friday, per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints. "He did a great job on both ends. He didn’t try to do too much... Obviously, we have to give him the ball and he has to score for us, but it was a very good first game with being very efficient with the shots he had.”
Can Thomas keep striding towards top-tier stardom?
As Fernandez mentioned, Cam Thomas was strategic about his shot selection in his preseason debut. He shot 60 percent from the field (3-for-5) and shot 50 percent (2-for-4) on his three-pointers. For Thomas to take the next step of his development, he will need to continue to have such performances.
During the 2023-24 season, Thomas averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game on a 44.2 percent field goal percentage. It would be great to see Thomas get close to or above 50 percent in 2024-25. In addition, increasing his 36.4 three-point percentage from his previous year to 40 percent would help him too. If Thomas were able to accomplish these feats, he would truly be as elite as Jordi Fernandez describes.
However, efficiency is not the only thing Thomas is concerned with. He wants to be an overall strong leader for the Nets.
He will have the opportunity to lead by example and be more vocal not only as one of the best players on the roster but as the second-longest tenured as well. Thomas will work with fellow teammate of three years Nic Claxton and the rest of the young Nets to help take the squad to the next level in 2024-25.