As it was the media day for the Brooklyn Nets, the players were in the firing line with a barrage of questions. For 10 minutes straight, Cam Thomas remained calm and spoke his mind. The young guard detailed his contract situation, as he had signed just a qualifying offer, since there was no consensus about his contract value. Brooklyn’s reported two-year, $28 million proposal, with a team option, has fallen far short of his long-term expectations. When asked if the situation would be a cause for concern this upcoming season, Thomas had quite the mature response.

“Yeah, I rather control my situation as a player. That’s the type of control you want in your situation,” he noted. “So, I just wanted to keep that aspect of it, man. I mean, just I mean, it doesn’t really matter what the conversations were. I’m just here to play my game. Keep doing what I was doing, keep playing, and really just enjoying my fifth year here, as you know, got to be in my fifth year here with team that drafted me and really just enjoying.”

Thomas is coming off an unusual year, averaging an excellent 24 points in just 23 appearances, as he tries to establish himself as one of the league’s most dangerous young scorers. His demand was clear, with a target salary in the $30-40 million per year range. But as there was no consensus, he accepted the $6 million deal, which would position him for unrestricted free agency in 2026. Keeping those issues behind, Cam Thomas said he will be “enjoying the moment”.

Plus, he was happy to play in front of the fans who had supported him ever since his rookie year with the Nets. But the off-season was not just about the 23-year-old’s contract situation. Back in July, he called out Zach Lowe, a media veteran, who called Thomas a ball hog.”The consensus on Cam Thomas — if there is one, and he’s got some fans, and he’s got some mega-detractors — but the consensus is kind of like empty calories, ball hog.”

At the time, the player had a fiery response: “The consenus? F— you and the consensus @ZachLowe_NBA.” The narrative comes from the fact that Thomas predominantly is a bucket getter. Even in a season limited to just 25 games in 2024-25, he still managed to drop a hefty 24.0 points per night. Apart from being the scorer, he had nearly a 33.0% usage rate according to Statmuse.

This suggests how much the offense ran through him. Thomas backed his scoring with that and a career-high 3.8 assists per game last season.

Despite dropping the F bomb, the 23-year-old added another tweet as a rebuttal to the media narrative. “This is most likely the same consensus teams who can’t guard me and send double teams from jump ball. Why are we double-teaming a guy who’s “not that good” make it make sense please.” In fact, Thomas best showcased his talents scoring and passing near the end of last season, notably amassing a career-high 10 assists in his final regular-season game of the year to go along with 24 points. He also averaged 5.8 assists per game over his final five matchups overall.

Cam Thomas remained calm as he put the off-season behind him

Lowe did respond on his podcast to the previous tweet from the 23-year-old; it was on The Zach Lowe Show, where the 47-year-old also had Rob Mahoney as a guest. But the host did not change his stance and called Thomas and his ability out to make a play for his teammates. His guest echoed the sentiment and used the Brooklyn Nets guard’s tweets against him. “And I don’t think you’re going to pass the ball. You know what? Aggregate this if you will. I, Rob Mahoney, don’t think that you’re gonna pass the ball, Cam Thomas. I’m sorry, I apologize, I don’t see that part of his game coming along…”

Already dealing with delayed contract talks, Cam Thomas already had a lot on his plate. But now with the season kicking off in less than a month, the 23-year-old cares less about the narrative. This time, in his media duties, he took a very measured approach. “So, I didn’t really put too much into it, but at the same time, you know, it gets it gets frustrating whether you want to admit it or not that people keep trying to spread these narratives and lies about you that just isn’t true. And without actually looking at the facts and watching our games, cuz I mean, we being honest, I’m pretty sure not many people watched the Nets last year.”

It was an eventful off-season for the young guard. It involved going back and forth with media members on X and essentially scrubbing all his socials of any mention of the Nets. The contract talks did not pan out as he had envisioned. But Cam Thomas is back in Brooklyn this time with a chip on his shoulder. To prove his worth as a $30-$40 million player, not just to the Nets, but to the other 29 teams, too.