Restricted free agent Cam Thomas decides whether to take the Brooklyn Nets’ eligible offer for one year, about $6 million or a two-year $28 million deal. This is based on the latest report from NBA insider Jake Fischer’s Bleacher Report.
By making a qualifying proposal, Thomas will be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent in 2026. However, warnings with the biennial deal are expected to be the team’s choice for the second year. In fact, Thomas has only one year of security in both offers.
In the offseason, restricted free agents are a reality check for players. Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga and Quentin Grimes are other players who meet when evaluating their options.
We are only over a month away from the start of the camp. These teams and players will want clarity faster.
The deadline for restricting free agency is October 1.
Did the Nets cause irreparable damage or did Thomas know it was just business?
The extent to which the team plays hard balls with restricted free agents boils down to a very simple reason. The second apron strictly assumes strict financial responsibility for all teams.
Do these participants and their agents know that this is the new nature of the business? Or, have they reluctantly accepted this reality and they had the first chance to go out?
Either way they do, what’s going on here is the opposite of what we saw in 2016 as Cap Spike. It can be said that the “middle class” of the NBA flourished during its free agent era, and the ink trade is seen as the worst contract today.
Today, no team will risk making such mistakes. The Nets, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia Sixers know that these players have nowhere to go.
They also know that opposing teams will also recognize their financial status when they pursue these players in the future. Only the true biggest player is safe.
