Since Cam Thomas returned from injury, he’s been in the starting lineup for the last four games. But is Jacque Vaughn doing this begrudgingly or are the Nets committed to him and other young players? In some ways, the team is caught in between, and it might be starting to show.
The Locked on Nets guys take a look at the recent rotations and minutes for Brooklyn and what they could mean about how the short and long-term could shake out for this team. Are the Nets going to keep prioritizing veterans above all else, or will there even be a youth movement with some of the playing time?
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17 Comments
Honestly this video is a little misleading because Coach Vaughn has given big trust to Cam Thomas when he made him a starter to start the season due to injuries and he was playing the best basketball of his career such as scoring, assist passes, and even on the defensive side….
Thomas rewarded Coach Vaughn's trust and for the people upset he didn't play a lot last year, Vaughn wanted Thomas to improve as a playmaker and defender so he could be a more complete player.
Coach Vaughn doesn't let his young players play confused unpolished basketball for long stretches and instead tries to protect them….
This season he challenged Thomas to improve his game and not only did he respond he earned the minutes on the court as a starter…
I will say that this team is still figuring out their direction because as good as a team they are becoming, Brooklyn management has some very tough decisions to make on veteran players futures on this team past this upcoming trade deadline.
Also Nic Claxton's free agency will be a big topic for Brooklyn to address in the off-season.
Regardless of what happens, this team has been playing some very fun exciting team style competitive basketball and this trade deadline could really help set up Brooklyn's future well…..
Looking at Brooklyn's current core of Mikal Bridges Cam Johnson Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, the argument could be made that Lonnie Walker and Trendon Watford have performed so well off the bench and given their age, both of them could be future core members that need to be resigned in the off-season.
Dayron Sharpe's evolution has been fantastic this season and given Brooklyn has been struggling for years to find a capable backup center Sharpe has definitely answered the call and is becoming a core member as well…
Dorian Finney Smith is arguably the biggest trade chip Brooklyn has at this upcoming deadline and almost every top contender is going to want him and the question for Brooklyn is what kind of package is acceptable to even consider letting go of such a high quality championship player in Doe?
Given his top notch defense and his three point scoring which has been tops in the league, a potential package Brooklyn would probably want is 2 unprotected first round draft picks and a young prospect player with potential.
Many teams could meet that price but it depends on how desperate they are to do that but Brooklyn should definitely up the offer as much as they can to get a quality return…
Royce O Neale another high quality player who has brought so many intangibles to Brooklyn's team and has brought that culture back to the borough, is a free agent after this season and Brooklyn's asking price for his services is a protected first round draft pick.
Again many top teams would be inclined to do that and Brooklyn could try to resign him in the offseason but given Nic Claxton Lonnie Walker and Watford will be a higher priority, Brooklyn might be forced to trade Royce for some type of draft capital instead of letting him just walk in free agency. Regardless Royce has been a consistent hard worker and has played so well for Brooklyn.
Spencer Dinwiddie future on this team is very very tricky considering his future is tied to Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton's futures.
Especially in Simmons case whose dealing with a unfortunate reccuring back injury Spencer has stepped up to admirably help this team as the main playmaker and his offense has gotten better as well…
Depending on Simmons cloudy future on this team past next season, Brooklyn resigning Spencer to one last big extension contract might seem like part necessity and the fact he could play a solid bench role on Brooklyn's team when they are ready to contend again.
Now the other problem is the fact Dinwiddie might not get the last big extension he wants because Nic Claxton is due for a bigger contract raise next season and Brooklyn might have to make a big financial commitment to keep Claxton and Spencer might not want to resign on a smaller deal…
So taking those variables into account and the fact he's a free agent after this season Brooklyn could potentially trade Dinwiddie at the deadline to get off his contract and to potentially acquire a younger point guard such as a Bones Hyland or maybe a Tyus Jones…
Regardless Spencer has had a good season and has put himself in a good position to get one last big decent contract….
Can lose a locker room if young ones get minutes over vets. especially when the vets are winning.
It's all downhill from here. Unless JV stops trying to control Cam Thomas on offense Nets will slide.
To me Jacque Vaughn is changing the way Cam plays on purpose. Plenty of people from fans, teammates, and media have criticized Jacque for not playing him like he should, and now that he has, he’s changing the way the kid plays as a means to say “I played him more but things didn’t work out”. Jacque Vaughn wants Cam to be a “playmaker” but as a result the kid has become way too hesitant. Can needs to get back to playing in attack mode.
It’s clear we need to make some moves…firstly we need to ship Ben to Wuhan or something cuz I’m sick of his shit. Two…I love Cam Thomas…but (and y’all gonna hate me for this) we need to think about moving him as well for a guy with size. Yeah he’s a great scorer but size matters in today’s NBA. This is not 2017 when Isaiah Thomas was an mvp candidate. Size is what Brooklyn needs. And he’s also a clear liability on defense like let’s be for real. And another shocker to y’all I think Nic Claxton needs to go to. I don’t see the same passion for the game that I saw last year. I would take Naz Reid over him rn if I’m being honest.
Does Joe Tsai trust Sean Marks after his lackluster career with the Nets so far? Does Sean Marks trust Jacque Vaughn after picking two of his friends, with not NBA coaching experience, ahead of him? Does Jacque Vaughn trust Sean Marks knowing that he was passed over for the head coaching job years ago? There's a long list of silly rhetorical questions we could ask and wont know the answer. Jacque Vaughn and his staff's job are to build a team based on their philosophy. Cam Thomas and players have to fit into their plan. Trials and errors are part of the process. The last time I looked, the team is going to be built around Mikal Bridges and not Cam Thomas. If any players don't fit into that plan, they likely wont be retained.
I think They should turn Harry Giles into a power forward playing at the four. Sooner rather that later. Put him in at that position and see how he goes. If he adapts and goes well then we can trade DFS before the deadline.
Personally, I think JV is doing a pretty good job with the rotations. There are a lot of new guys on the team with one yr contracts that we need to figure out if they are part of the Nets future. We are not tanking, so I believe we need to try to put our best foot forward to try to win games. I think that’s what JV is doing. Cam Thomas may not be part of the teams future. He may have some decent trade value. He’s getting a lot more minutes than last yr but he’s not getting his “25 easy.” Let things play out for a while.
I expect the Nets to be very active come trade deadline and over the summer moving players. We have a lot of cards we can play as, imo, we still don’t have a really solid, firm core.
The problem was, and still is…Cam plays the same position as Mikal. They both like the same shots (middy fades), except MIkal is more of a complete player especially defensively. The best 4-man team of the Nets are Mikal at 2, Cam J at 3, DFS at 4, and Clax at 5. Cam needs to develop more into a 1 if he wants to crack that line-up. Doesn't mean he needs to be a traditional pure point, but he needs to at least be closer to Spencer from a distribution standpoint to warrant him getting closing minutes. Because defensively, the Nets simply can't close with Spencer, Cam, Mikal, Cam J, and Nic/DFS.
There’s this small but super vocal group who always thinks JV is persecuting CT and holding him back or not letting him play free to score as much as he wants. The fact is teams are now pressuring him defensively and he’s not adjusting well. He turns the ball over when he’s getting blitzed and still throws up low percentage shots. Some people just want him to chuck up as many shots as possible, win or lose but this will turn him into another Jordan Poole.
Okay, so I'll revise my comments. In short, it is frustrating that Vaughan does not play. The young guys especially Watford, who seemed to have earned additional playing time and Cam Thomas's role is not exactly defined. I want to see sharpe starting and more playing time for him as he has clearly earned it at this point.
I agree with all of Doug's points that these veterans aren't going to be on the team forever and we need to give the younger players some more run time. If they trade one of them sooner or later we will not have enough of a sample size to determine who they keep