The Nets unloaded Kyrie Irving, and unleashed Cam Thomas.
With Irving out of the lineup the past three games (one before and two after he was traded), Thomas has cracked 40 points in each one. At 21, he’s the youngest player in NBA history to attain a minimum of 40 in three consecutive games. His 134 points in that stretch are essentially the most ever by a Net in a three-game span, breaking the team record set by (naturally) Irving.
Though Thomas isn’t a like-for-like substitute, he has taken advantage of the trade of Irving and injury to Kevin Durant to money in on his golden opportunity.
“He’s able to doing it, there’s absolute confidence about that,” coach Jacque Vaughn said because the Nets prepared to host the Bulls on Thursday. “You’ve just got to think concerning the totality of our team. If Kevin was playing, could he get that quantity of shots? Probably not. Once we had Kevin and Ky, could he get those amount of shots? Probably not.
“What was the perfect lineup around that group? All the time do what’s best for the team. Straight away for Cam that is the perfect thing for our team, for him to be showcased to attain the basketball. And his ability to attain the basketball, we’ve needed these past two games. We’ll need it again.”
Since Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973, only 10 players have three straight games with 43 or more points: Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Michael Jordan, Damian Lillard, Bob Love, Moses Malone and Russell Westbrook. Now Thomas has joined that august group.
“Loads of people have been hitting me up, saying they’re happy with me,” Thomas said. “In order that’s really good for me to have some support back home from friends, family, whoever, just support. That’s what you wish now, you wish a variety of people supporting you and having your best interest. It gets somewhat overwhelming, but I enjoy it since it just shows that everyone’s watching, in order that’s good.”
Thomas has played higher than the Nets could’ve expected. Within the three games, he averaged 44.7 points on 56 percent shooting, 14-for-25 from deep and 36-for-40 from the free-throw stripe.
That raises the query of how he sat for five straight games last month and struggled to get consistent minutes before the Nets lost Durant and Ben Simmons to injury, then dealt Irving to Dallas.
“It’s like a vending machine, you would like it easy, and you set your money in and sometimes you get junk. But for those who put somewhat bit more investment into it — like a house cooked meal — you get to learn concerning the ingredients and what it takes,” Vaughn said. “So he’s learned the ingredients of being knowledgeable basketball player, not the vending machine, not the short and simple.”
Durant (MCL) and Seth Curry (left adductor) shall be out versus the Bulls, while Yuta Watanabe (back tightness) and Day’Ron Sharpe (right foot soreness) are questionable. Simmons — who made his return Tuesday after missing five games with a knee injury — is obtainable.
