The Brooklyn Nets hosted their 2024-25 preseason Media Day at HSS Training Center on Monday, and the players are fired up at the start of the new league year. One player many fans and analysts will have their eyes on is rising third-year guard Cam Thomas. Thomas has high expectations for himself, and while the Nets have an incentive to lose games due to owning their 2025 draft pick, Brooklyn is not taking the season lightly.
Regardless of how the players feel about the upcoming season, the Nets are projected to win roughly 19.5 games during the 2024-25 season, per odds from BetMGM. Cam Thomas drew upon intrinsic motivation when speaking about the low number at Media Day:
"I can't speak for anybody else, but I look at [the low wins projection] as motivation. I've always been doubted, like ever since I started playing basketball. So whenever I see something like that I always just laugh," Thomas said, per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints. "I always keep a mental note in the back of my head, just try to prove everybody wrong. That's just how I feel, how I use everything as motivation for myself and the team, so definitely laugh, but it's in the back of my mind as motivation."
Nets' 2024-25 season will be no laughing matter
The more games the Nets lose during the 2024-25 season, the higher the chances they have to land a top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Many expect Brooklyn to tank, so oddsmakers' predictions for the team's wins make sense. However, for the Nets, everything is not just about the draft. Brooklyn wants to see growth out of its players.
In a Sep. 26 press conference, Sean Marks revealed that he and the Nets front office are examining players to see who will stay and who go during the rebuild. Specifically, he said the team is looking for players who can be around for the next two to three years. Players' development will factor into their future with the team. Thus, the young Nets squad must do all they can to improve throughout the season.
Cam Thomas had a phenomenal offensive year in 2023-24, averaging 22.5 points per game. Yet, he retains the motivation to further ascend. Most notably, Thomas' playmaking skills could use improvement in addition to his shot efficiency. Like Thomas, the rest of Brooklyn's squad wants to keep growing and prove their worth as a building block for the team going forward.