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 every one. At 21, he’s the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 in three consecutive games. His 134 points in that stretch are 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 replacement, he has taken advantage of the trade of Irving and injury to Kevin Durant to cash in on his golden opportunity.
“He’s capable of doing it, there’s no question about that,” coach Jacque Vaughn said as the Nets prepared to host the Bulls on Thursday. “You’ve just got to think about the totality of our team. If Kevin was playing, could he get that amount of shots? Probably not. When we had Kevin and Ky, could he get those amount of shots? Probably not.
“What was the best lineup around that group? Always do what’s best for the team. Right now for Cam this is the best thing for our team, for him to be showcased to score the basketball. And his ability to score 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.
“A lot of people have been hitting me up, saying they’re proud of me,” Thomas said. “So that’s really good for me to have some support back home from friends, family, whoever, just support. That’s what you need now, you need a lot of people supporting you and having your best interest. It gets a little overwhelming, but I enjoy it because it just shows that everybody’s watching, so that’s good.”
Thomas has played better than the Nets could’ve expected. In 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 question 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 want it easy, and you put your money in and sometimes you get junk. But if you put a little bit more investment into it — like a home cooked meal — you get to learn about the ingredients and what it takes,” Vaughn said. “So he’s learned the ingredients of being a professional basketball player, not the vending machine, not the quick and easy.”
Durant (MCL) and Seth Curry (left adductor) will 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 available.