Just for freedom tomorrow summer! Thomas signed a quotation of 6 million yuan for one year. Should Kumingga choose this too?

Nets officially announced that the team has officially renewed the contract with Cameron Thomas. According to previous reports from Shams, Cameron Thomas signed a one-year qualification offer worth $6 million with the Nets.

The Nets initially provided Thomas with two contract renewal plans: 30 million in 1 and 2 years, and the team option for the second year; 9.5 million in 1 year, and another $1.5 million in bonus, but he needed to give up the trade veto. The intention of the two contract renewal plans of the Nets is very obvious. It crazyly lowers Thomas' annual salary for the next year, up to 15 million, and does not provide a long contract, which is at most two years. The Nets want to control Thomas' fate in the future, that is, an expiration contract of about 15 million (the second year team option) can be processed as a bargaining chip at any time.

Thomas was naturally wronged. He averaged 22.5 points per game in the 2023-24 season and 24.0 points per game in the 2024-25 season. He has been the Nets' scoring champion for two consecutive years. He is determined to have an annual salary of 30 million to 40 million. He does not think he is worse than Jaylen Green, Quickley, and Hero.

Thomas's demands are understandable. Jaylen Green averaged 21 points per game last season, Herro averaged 23.9 points per game, and Quickley averaged 17.1 points per game, and the annual salary of these three people exceeded US$30 million - Thomas averaged 24.0 points per game is higher than Jaylen Green, Herro and Quickley, so he naturally wants a contract of 30 million.

data is also the focus of controversy over the renewal of Thomas and the parent team Nets. Thomas averaged 24.0 points per game and believed that he was worth more than 30 million in a big contract. The Nets evaluated his comprehensive ability and believed that he was not worth it and did not want to give a big contract. This delay lasted for two months.

Thomas is now 23 years old and 327 days old. This 2021 first round No. 27 pick has emerged in the Nets' reconstruction years.

In the 2022-23 season, Thomas, who was in the second grade, averaged only 10.6 points per game; after the disintegration of the Nets' Big Three, Thomas' average score soared to 22.5 points in the third grade, and even surpassed the team's boss Mikal Bridges (15.8 attempts per game) to become the team's first offensive choice; after the Bridge was traded by the Nets to the Knicks, Thomas' ball usage rate rose to 32.6%, averaging 24.0 points per game!

Thomas delivered outstanding shooting and scoring performance for two consecutive years. He averaged 2.2 three-pointers with a three-ball shooting percentage of 36.4% in the 2023-24 season, and averaged 2.7 three-pointers with a three-point shooting percentage of 34.9% last season, and the 10-16-foot mid-range two-point shooting percentage remained above 46% for two consecutive years. The long two-point shooting percentage outside the 16-foot last year was 41.0% and 52.4% this year - for a young man under the age of 24, Thomas' mid- and long-range shooting ability is remarkable.

Japanese Thomas is a typical American defender style. His three-point shooting accounted for 33.3% of the 2023-24 season, and his three-point shooting accounted for 43% of the last season, which perfectly meets the demand of modern space basketball's mainstream style of playing for ball-holding attackers.

An attacker who is under 24 years old, who can average at least 2 three-pointers per game, and averages 20+ points per game for two consecutive years, wants a big contract, which is reasonable and well-founded, but it is not an exaggeration. Although Cameron Thomas averaged 24.0 points per game in the fourth grade, he was not an ideal cornerstone candidate for team building.

The Nets' management is not stupid either. As a pure attacker, Thomas' comprehensive qualities such as attendance, defense, and organization cannot be regarded as the cornerstone of the team building, so he is naturally frantically suppressed.

Thomas suffered a left hamstring strain last season and played only 25 games throughout the season and was reimbursed for the season. He has a history of injury and poor attendance last season, which is one of the reasons why the Nets are reluctant to put their future on him.

Thomas' defense is a flaw. All DBPM (defensive contribution value) during the four-year contract of the rookie contract are negative, that is, they are strong offense and weak defense players, and their defense is seriously dragged down.

Thomas' organizational ability is not ideal, and he averaged 2.9 assists and 1.9 turnovers per game in the 2023-24 season, and 3.8 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game last season. It is not an excellent pick-and-roll ball-holding nuclear energy to drive the team's offense, and he is more a pure attack point on the court with his own score as the main focus.

As the saying goes, there is no major player in Shu, Liao Hua as a pioneer, and the Nets' bad performance and reconstruction environment has created a Thomas with a high ball possession, high shooting number, relatively beautiful score per game and able to "swing hard".

Thomas can score young, but considering his defensive and organizational skills, he is not a qualified cornerstone candidate for reconstruction in the fourth grade. At this stage, the Nets are tasteless and a pity to give up, so they are naturally unwilling to give him a big contract.

The market environment is not good, and the prospects for renewal of the "Four Little Swans" of Thomas, Kumingga, Gidey and Grimes are not optimistic.

The free market in 2025 is the "Little New Year". There are fewer teams with sufficient salary space. The Nets are the only team that has enough salary space to sign and bid directly (Kuminga). Other teams outside the parent team need to sign first and then exchange if they want to sign high salaries.

These four restricted players are not ideal cornerstone candidates for team building, each with their own shortcomings: Thomas is a pure attacker and cannot make any moves in other aspects; Kumingga's shooting is unstable and the ball quotient is not high; Gidey's organizational talent is amazing, but the projection and defense are dragging their legs; Grimes is a 3D defender, non-leader core playing style.

The market environment and player characteristics determine that the "Four Little Swans" have high salary renewals are not realistic, and Thomas provides a way to break the deadlock, but it is actually a loss..

Thomas chose to get less money, and did not choose 30 million in two years or 9.5 million in one year + 1.5 million in one year. He retained the veto power of the transaction after renewal, that is, Guan Xia left the team as a complete free agent - he was determined to leave the parent team and pursued a big contract with his performance for a year.

The situation of Kumingga and the Warriors is even more complicated: 1. The Warriors provided Kumingga with 45 million for two years (the team option for the second year), requiring Kumingga to give up the trade veto; 2. The Kings and the Suns proposed to sign 90 million for four years, but the chips could not satisfy the Warriors, and the Warriors refused all sign-on and exchange plans; 3. Kumingga accepted a quotation of $7.9 million for one year, and could retain the trade veto, but get less money.

The Warriors hope to retain control of Kumingga's future with the team options, while Kumingga pursues free dominance (player options and trade veto). The two sides completely froze. The deadline is that Kumingga decides whether to accept qualification quotations before October 1.

It is not difficult to find that restricted players accept one year's qualification quote and choose to spend less money in exchange for their free agents a year later, while the parent team will lose young players in vain tomorrow summer. This is undoubtedly the last resort for both sides.

Thomas took the first step in freedom and provided a way to break the deadlock. It was only a matter of time before this farce between Kumingga and the Warriors ushered in the finale.