From Shams Charania: Bad news for the Brooklyn Nets and Cam Thomas…
Thomas, 24, has been averaging 21.4 points a game for the Nets, making him the second leading scorer on a team that’s already offensively challenged.
Thomas exited the game at the 6:25 mark of the first Wednesday. He was ruled out shortly after with hamstring tightness, the same injury which limited his season to just 25 games last year. Post-game,
Jordi Fernandez tried to offer an optimistic assessment but in the end, he knew Thomas’ injury assistant.
“It’s just tightness,” he said. “We haven’t announced anything else…we’ll give you guys more information, and the only thing that I can say is he’s done a great job. He’s worked on his body, he plays, and he’s played really hard. So there’s a lot of things he’s got to work on, but it’s part of basketball.”
Thomas suffered three such hamstring injuries last season and the Nets finally ended his season on March 13.
His injury history hurt his negotiating position last year when he was looking for a big extension and the Nets wouldn’t budge. Ultimately, he exercised his qualifying offer at $6.0 million. The Nets had previously offered him two years at around $30 million with the second year a team option, much like the extensions provided Day’Ron Sharpe and Zaire Williams. Nets insiders have told NetsDaily that the Nets received no offers for Thomas this past summer, an indication that he had little value in a league strapped for cap space.
Now, Thomas value will presumably drop more.
