Fischer on Brooklyn Nets Agency Free: “ Roll slow ” on Cam Thomas, exchange for project assets

When you have all the cards, you don’t offer yourself against yourself.

It is essentially Brooklyn Nets’ strategy for the rest of the free agency, especially in the case of Cam Thomas, the big free agent of the team, as Jake Fischer reported on the Steinline, the substitution of Marc Stein on Thursday.

More than two weeks after the free agency, many leaders and agents of the League still wonderfully wonder: what does Brooklyn do with its ceiling space?

Fischer first eliminates a possibility of rumor, a decision to return to the future: the call for tenders of leaves supply to one of the large free agents of the league, as they did in Sean Marks for the first time.

The answer, most certainly, is not Use it to pursue limited free agents. The Front Office of Sean Marks is known to do so in the past, providing lucrative supply sheets to Otto Porter Jr, Tyler Johnson and Allen Crabbe.

Not this summer.

Then, Fischer reports that the slow rolling strategy extends to Thomas. No haste there. It is a company and it is a question of timing more than anything.

The sources say that the net, in fact, have not yet significantly engaged their own limited free agent: the brand goalkeeper Cam Thomas.

No other details. Fischer is not alone in his analysis either. Brian Lewis also pointed out in a tweet on Thursday that the nets are “without prescription” …

Indeed, as Fischer and Lewis noted it, the nets have the best poker hand in the treatment of Thomas. They have a monopoly on the CAP space in the NBA. Even if a team could rush and find enough space to make an offer for Thomas, the nets have the right to match what it could do without much effort. In addition, they can sign Thomas outside the cap. They hold its bird rights.

Then there is the market. The Camt is a polarizing figure of the NBA. Fischer previously reported that Thomas wanted an agreement that values him at $ 30 million a year, as Brian Lewis reported on Friday

Thomas openly said that he considered himself one of the best shooting guards in the league.

A familiar source with Thomas’ thought said that he does not consider himself lower than Immanuel Quickley ($ 32.5 million this season to come), Tyler Herro ($ 31 million) or RJ Barrett ($ 27.7 million).

“No question,” said the source. “He could therefore want $ 30 million”, “

At the other end of the spectrum, a league source told Netsdaily that giving the 23 -year -old player over $ 10 million would transform their “all season outside his shit”.

And Wednesday, Zach Lowe added this to his podcast:

“The consensus on Cam Thomas – if there is one, and he has fans, and he has mega -detectors – but consensus is a bit like pork with empty calories.”

It should also be noted that the nets have not yet signed their two other limited free agents – Day’ron Sharpe or Ziary Williams – although they would have accepted 12 million dollars over two years with the second year of a team option – generally considered a big business, in particular in the case of Sharpe. The league sources say they are waiting to see how things work before deciding if it is better to use the ceiling space or the Mle of $ 8.8 million on one of them. Again, no precipitation.

So if they are not going to offer supply sheets and do not rush into an agreement with CAMT, what are they doing? Fischer says that they are waiting, that they always believe that they can add more project assets:

Brooklyn was active on the commercial front, finally shipping the long-term elite shooter, Cam Johnson, acquiring Michael Porter Jr. and Térance Mann and adding both the overall choice n ° 22 in the draft last month (which was used on Drake Powell) and the choice of first round in 2032 of Denver in the Denver Johnson-For-For-For.

Conclusion?

The nets seem to be content to drive slowly the rest of their intersection accounts. They have around $ 24 million to absorb an additional salary in transactions that could generate more editorial capital while the Thomas Cap holder ($ 12.1 million) remains in their books.

And things are by no means urgent. Thomas has until October 1 to exercise his qualification offer of a year of $ 6 million, which would make him a free agent without restriction next June, and the Nets are not even upstairs of the ABC, not to mention the ceiling.

Like Jonathan Kuminga of Golden State, Josh Giddey de Chicago and Quentin Grimes de Philadelphia, there is not much that Thomas can do to force the hand of bidders on the market who have their own space.

Fischer does not provide details on what Nets are looking for in terms of editor or the team, but they would certainly like to strengthen their hiding place in 2026, a project which is considered equal or better than 2025 that many drafts think they are the best in 20 years.

They currently have theirs, recovered from the Rockets in the exchange of choice in 2024 and two seconds, nor theirs. (In 2027, that Jonathan Givony wrote this week is the polar opposite of 2025 and 2026, the Nets will have at least two choices.)

The NBA free agency is often wrapped at this time of the year. The summer league ends, major decisions have been made and the types of front office are preparing to pack their bags for a vacation. This year, however, the problems with the ABC “aprons” and the lack of ceiling space other than Brooklyn have slowed things down, especially for limited free agents like Thomas. And no one predicted that teams would prefer expensive buyouts and long stretching payments to abandon assets in the businesses. Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal and Deandre Ayton all register in this category.