You’re the GM of a team in the NBA. The franchise is in the middle of a rebuild with a roster full of expiring contracts & young players. At shooting guard, you have an elite bucket getter who finished in the top 25 in scoring. This season (year 4) at 24 years old, the shooting guard is not only the #1 option on offense but one of if not the face of the franchise. With an abundance of cap room you wouldn't risk losing the young player with a high ceiling…. Right? Enter the Nets & Cam Thomas.
Rookie Extension
Players drafted in the 2021 NBA Draft are entering the last year of their rookie contracts. Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, & Scottie Barnes (3 out of the top 4 picks) have all signed extensions that will pay them 224M over 5 years. All starting next year. But there are players who for one reason or another do not have an extension in place. After showing their worth Cam Thomas, Alperen Sengun, & Jonathan Kuminga all seem to be in line for a big pay day. An issue complicating the matter is a rule in the CBA, that gives teams a deadline to come to an agreement with these players. The deadline this season is Oct 21st, the day before the opening tip off for the league. But what happens if they DON'T sign an extension? I’ll break it down.
Qualifying Offer & Free Agency
In the case of Cam Thomas & the Brooklyn Nets, all reports seem to lean to the team not reaching an agreement with Thomas by the deadline. So what are the Nets options & why would they do this? In this scenario the Nets would offer Thomas a qualifying offer (or QO). The QO is a 1 year deal that’s worth is dependent upon a player’s service time & status. Thomas’ QO will be worth 5.9M for 25-26. The key to the QO is that the player’s free agency status has changed. He is now a RFA (or restricted free agent). As a RFA teams can offer Thomas a contract but the Nets will now have 1st right of refusal & can match any contract offer Thomas accepts. If the Nets don’t offer Thomas a QO, he is free to sign with any team with no limitations. If Thomas has another good season, he may be in line for a big deal from a team trying to poach the young guard. If no such offer appears, Thomas can take the QO and be free to sign with any team the following offseason.
So why would the Nets not extend Thomas? The answer is flexibility & efficiency. While the Nets will have MAJOR cap space in the upcoming offseason, most of the NBA will not. By offering the QO the Nets will allow the market to shape for Thomas. If he has an off year, the market will be dry & the Nets can punt down the extension decision down the road a year. Cam's 30.5% usage persentage was 11th in the NBA, numbers usually reserved for star players. Add in that he was 19th in the league in field goals missed, it shows a picture of a high volume shooter who isnt efficent. This takes away from his scoring numbers, but not the talent he displays every night. Now if Thomas improves on this & has a great year…. his value would sky rocket. That’s the gamble. In a situation that Cam Thomas plays well but isn’t in the team’s future plans, he could even be traded. Sean Marks the Brooklyn Nets GM, has shown a history of wanting to keep flexibility with his cap space & assets. As we watch Thomas’s market develop over the season, I expect the team to continue it’s mantra of flexibility.
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Pete is the host of Nets Fans You Know. A top-rated Brooklyn Nets podcast where he is joined by a different guest each episode including former players, beat writers, media personalities, sports analysts, & important figures in Nets lore.
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