After Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James’ heated encounter, we have another player-analyst battle. Since it is off-season, the current back-and-forth is largely online and once again stemmed from the players not liking what the analyst said. The player in question is Cam Thomas, and the veteran media member is Zach Lowe. The Nets guard is dealing with uncertain times during the free agency, and his frustrations also came unglued on social media, with over 9 million views.
Currently, the 23-year-old has received the $5.9 million qualifying offer. But the restricted free agent is reportedly asking for $30 million per season. Based on his career high of 24 points per game last, one would think that’s a fair offer. However, there is a flaw in his game. A few days ago, Zach Lowe said that the consensus around Cam Thomas’ restricted free agency is that he’s an “empty calories ball hog.” Naturally, the player responded, “The consenus? F*** you and the consensus @ZachLowe_NBA .”
Let’s also understand that Lowe never made that tweet. On his show a few days ago alongside Nekias Duncan, Lowe spoke at length about the pros and cons of Cam Thomas. But the negatives stood out, and it was re-shared on X by a news aggregator. That tweet garnered more than 6 million views, and one of them was from the Nets guard. And after that encounter, we have Zach Lowe clearing the air, but not changing his stance on the 23-year-old.
I will then offer my own opinion and if Cam Thomas had listened to the subsequent 12 minutes. I don’t think he did, but I don’t know. He would have heard me deep dive into his game and talk about career-high assists. Certain kind of passes that he’s gotten meaningfully better at. On the latest episode of the Zach Lowe Show, the host also had Rob Mahoney as a guest. The host continued, “I have said consistently for two years of Cam Thomas dialogue that the guy can straight up get buckets and there is a place for him in the NBA. To me, that place is most likely six-man scoring burst guy, which is what I said in that 12-minute segment.”
So, $30 million for a 6th man, not necessarily the teams would buy in for that. After all, everybody is targeting to be under the cap space for the 2027 free agent market. But the kicker for Thomas came in from Mahoney, who backed Lowe’s statement. “I also thought Cam kind of cooked himself a little bit by saying like, how could you say this about a guy who gets double-teamed all the time?”
Cam Thomas is on the receiving end of another brutal analysis
After dropping the F bomb on his tweet, the LSU alum had more to say on his tweet. “This is most likely the same consensus teams who can’t guard me and send double teams from jump ball . Why are we double teaming a guy who’s “not that good” make it make sense please.” And Mahoney used this tweet from Cam Thomas to send a response. As per Mahoney, Thomas is double-teamed because he can’t find the right pass. If it was not enough, the guest on the Zach Lowe Show would go on to quote himself to remove any doubt.
Nov 24, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) is interviewed after defeating the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
“And I don’t think you’re going to pass the ball. You know what? Aggregate this if you will. I, Rob Mahoney, don’t think that you’re gonna pass the ball, Cam Thomas. I’m sorry. I apologize. I don’t see that part of his game coming along as like I don’t think he’s ever going to be someone who eagerly moves the ball, who eagerly participates in a comprehensive offense.”
So, both media members stayed true to their comments. Last season, Cam Thomas had a career-high 3.8 assists per game, but Lowe and Mahoney feel his playmaking skills are still a hindrance. Last year, the 4-year-NBA star also appeared in just 25 games, limiting his opportunity to show out. His fate is just like other notable restricted free agents like Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Quentin Grimes. It will be interesting to see if his future moves get affected by any analyst’s comments.
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