Kevin Durant is injured again. Kyrie has been traded to Dallas. Ben Simmons is.....still Ben Simmons. These realities have led many to write the Nets off as a team on the precipice of tanking, but one man stands between the city of Brooklyn and a dark age of draft pick hustling and that man is Cameron Bouchea Thomas. After wasting away on the bench throughout his rookie year and the first half of his sophomore campaign he is finally getting a chance to go full scorched Earth.
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The obvious way to start is to talk about Thomas' last two games. Two games ago in a matchup against the Wizards in the wake of Kyrie's trade request, he put up 44 points in only 29 minutes shooting nearly 70% from the field and 80% from three. He threw in a slight six rebounds and five assists to put the cherry on top of his breakout performance. Then last night in a duel with the Clippers he had a game high 47 points shooting slightly worse from the field but still knocking down 7/11 threes. If you actually watched these games you didn't see a kid shot chucking because he was finally getting the green light he's been waiting for for two years, no, you saw a guy who has serious all-star upside become the second youngest player to ever record back-to-back 40 point games.
Nets fans have been telling us since they first saw him play that this guy was something special. I think he's passed the eye test since day one, he just happened to land on a team that didn't have many extra touches to go around. He looked like a decent enough role player in his rookie season, acting as a high-energy sparkplug off the bench throughout the year. This year he's played the same role, but he's been significantly more efficient in the minutes given to him. It was really just a matter of time until he blossomed into the player Nets fans have claimed him to be for two years now.
As far as the future of Thomas and the Nets is concerned, you're kind of traversing muddy waters. If you're concerned about winning games then I'm not so sure you'll be happy with the reality of the situation. Cam Thomas scoring forty points a game on a team full of role players probably isn't going to win you many games. However, adding a healthy Kevin Durant to the mix could shift the tides. At this point the future lays in Durant's hands. If he returns healthy and Thomas keeps up a high level of play this team could still make waves this season. If he does what I think he will do and finds a way out of Brooklyn in the coming months you're looking at a tanking scenario. I don't think that's the worst thing in the world though, as Brooklyn is a big enough market to make a quick turnaround in a tanking atmosphere. At the end of the day, no matter how things go the future may get rocky. Guys like Thomas and other young players being able to keep their heads on their shoulders and continue to develop their game through what may turn out to be some tough times is what's most important. For the time being we should just sit back and relax while Thomas hopefully continues his breakout stretch and focus on their more grim side of things at a later date.