Restricted free agent Cam Thomas will sign a one-year, $6 million eligibility proposal to return to the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN Thursday.
The Nets were unable to reach a long-term deal with Thomas, so the 23-year-old high-scoring guard chose a qualified offer, which gave him full trade-free terms and set him up for unlimited free agents next summer, with at least 10 teams ready to have cap space.
Thomas is the first person among the NBA's ultimately restricted free agents to make a decision (including Josh Giddey of the Chicago Bulls, Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors, Quentin Grimes of the Philadelphia 76ers).
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Thomas’ representative Ron Shade and Octagon’s Alex Saratsis discussed several trading frameworks with the Nets, but ultimately rejected Brooklyn’s two-year and $30 million offer, a second season or a year team choice, with $9.5 million in team choices a year and while eliminating that reward, they gave up to $11 million, while giving up the numerous deals.
Thomas averaged 24.0 points, 3.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in 31.2 minutes last season, but he played in just 25 games due to a hamstring injury. This is the first time in his career that he has missed a lot of time.
According to Geniusiq, Thomas was beaten twice on 18% of the touch balls in 2024-25 while demonstrating a range of scoring and playing skills, which is Geniusiq's claim, the fourth highest rate of recording at least 1,000 touches among players, behind Zion Williamson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokunmpo.
After averaging 9.5 points and 17.1 minutes in the past two NBA seasons, Thomas averaged 22.9 points per game over the past two seasons. With 9 and 40 points in his career, he ranks fourth in Nets history, behind Vince Carter, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.