Guard Cam Thomas is signing his one-year, $6 million qualifying offer to remain with the Brooklyn Nets, according to multiple media reports Thursday.
As a restricted free agent, Thomas’ agreement to the one-year deal will make him an unrestricted free agent next summer and free to sign with any team without Brooklyn having the right to match offers. The 23-year-old also cannot be traded this coming season without his consent.
Thomas wasn’t able to reach a long-term contract deal with Brooklyn this offseason. ESPN reported that his representatives, Ron Shade and Alex Saratsis of Octagon, declined the Nets’ offers of two years and $30 million with a team option for a second season, or one year and $9.5 million with incentives up to $11 million while waiving the no-trade clause.
His market was limited by the number of teams with significant salary cap space, and Thomas is the first of the remaining restricted free agents to make a decision. He’s also just the fifth former first-round pick to sign a qualifying offer since 2017, according to ESPN.
Hamstring issues limited Thomas to just 25 games (23 starts) last season, when he averaged career highs with 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
He became a full-time starter in the 2023-24 campaign, when he averaged 22.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a career-high 31.4 minutes in 66 games. For his career, Thomas averages 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 23.2 minutes in 215 games (80 starts).
Brooklyn selected Thomas with the 27th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft out of LSU.
