Few teams have gone through the whirlwind of changes that the Brooklyn Nets have endured over the last handful of seasons. In 2018-19, they were a fun young team that shocked the world by winning 42 games and sneaking into the playoffs. That following offseason, they acquired both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
After a gap year to allow Durant to recover from the torn Achilles he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals, the Nets seemed primed for a deep run in 2020-21. However, a slow start led them to make a drastic change – investing massive resources in a trade for James Harden. Naturally, that experiment fizzled out a year later, and they traded Harden for a package headlined by the polarizing first-overall pick Ben Simmons.
In 2022-23, the Nets started out slow but eventually picked up the pace and looked like a real title contender midway through the season. That is, until an Irving trade request led to the team parting ways with him and Kevin Durant in one of the craziest trade deadline weeks in recent history.
Fast forward to the present, and even after all that, one member of the team still believes they have what it takes to compete with anyone.
Cam Thomas Thinks The Brooklyn Nets Can Contend Right Now
Despite all the significant roster turnover he’s had to endure during his time with the team, third-year guard Cam Thomas has started off his 2023-24 season with a bang. Through six games, he’s averaging 26 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG on 57.7% True Shooting (one percent above the league average) in 33.2 minutes per contest.
In a recent interview with NBA Insider Michael Scotto, Thomas shared his thoughts on what he believes this current iteration of the Nets is capable of. Here is what he said:
Cam Thomas is 2nd in points per game on drives (14.4) and 13th in points per game (26). He discussed his breakout start, what he learned from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, playing with Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton’s growth, and Brooklyn Nets expectations.
👉🏼 https://t.co/vWy6gvwsnd pic.twitter.com/8qxdqjL856
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 6, 2023
Despite not touting the star power they did when Thomas was first drafted by the team in 2021, he still believes that the Nets are capable of being a worthy adversary to any team in the association (as seen in the quote from the tweet above).
The Nets Are Going To Need to Play Better To Prove Thomas Right
Despite Thomas’ optimism about his team, the Nets have been very average to start the season. Through six games, they are 3-3 with the 11th-best Net Rating (+0.3) in the association. However, they have achieved this mediocrity in a way that few people expected them to heading into the year.
As it stands, the Nets are currently 8th in Offensive Rating (115.9) and 23rd in Defensive Rating (115.5). Based on their personnel, many analysts believed that those numbers would be flip-flopped. They thought that the Nets would be a great defense and a weak offense. Some of this peculiar start has to do with Thomas’ strong scoring start to the season. And some of it has to do with their defensive anchor, Nic Claxton, only playing in one game thus far.
Regardless, if the Nets plan on validating Thomas’ claim to Scotto, they are going to need to find a way to maintain their offensive output while also improving their defense.
