New Nets coach Jordi Fernandez says scoring the ball is Cam Thomas’ superpower.
But he’s here to help him level up that power, as the young guard enters a pivotal season in his career.
“Development is the No. 1 thing. For everybody, not just the young guys, but also the veterans. Everybody has to get better, there has to be a plan,” Fernandez said. “And my conversations with Cam are ‘Can I help you be more efficient of a scorer?’ If you look at his numbers, the less he dribbles, the more efficient he is. Like, to the top of the NBA. It’s impressive.
“His superpower is to score the ball, and what we need to do is to help him do that, but in an efficient way. Same as his playmaking, because he attracts so much attention, teams are going to try to blitz him, load to him, how he can kick that and create more assists. It’s on me and the rest of the coaching staff to help him, and we believe he can take that next step.”
Thomas averaged a team-high 22.5 points last season, 28.0 over the final 10 games.
With Mikal Bridges gone and the Nets rebuilding, Thomas will face even more defensive attention and can’t fall into forcing shots.
Fernandez’s point is well-taken.
Thomas’ effective field goal percentage on looks without a dribble is a stellar .658, and a solid .508 on a lone dribble and .483 with just two.
But when he takes anywhere from three to six dribbles, it falls to just .438.
That — along with defense and playmaking — will be a focus of camp and the preseason.
Thomas is eligible for a rookie extension, along with Day’Ron Sharpe and newcomer Ziaire Williams, who has impressed in summer workouts.
Starting Tuesday, the Nets have a three-week window to ink Thomas, 22, to an extension that would kick in for 2025-26.
But no talks are believed to have taken place on any of the trio, and retaining Thomas as a restricted free agent next summer to sequence signings seems more likely.
“In terms of extension talks, there are several guys on our team that we could be having those same conversations with. So we’ll certainly engage with agents and the players,” GM Sean Marks said. “It’s important to always have that door open. The window will certainly close on the extension if we can’t get something done, but it’s important for those players to know we care about them, and here’s where we see them, whether the timing is right this year or if it’s next offseason from an organizational standpoint and also from their standpoint.”
