TORONTO — Coaching changes shake up any team. But no Net could find his role as shaken up and jostled around — for better or worse — than Cam Thomas.
He had an uphill climb to even get in the rotation, much less the starting lineup, under Jacque Vaughn.
With interim coach Kevin Ollie now in charge, the 22-year-old seems to be facing a wider range of possibilities for how his role could change.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to get wins, got to make the playoffs. So the front office made the decision they felt was best for the team, as an organization,” Thomas said. “We’ve just got to move forward and try to stack wins.
“I found out when Sean [Marks] told me. I didn’t even know. I saw it on the internet, but I thought it was like a prank or something. But Sean called and informed me. It’s unfortunate, but it’s what comes with it. You don’t want to see nobody lose their job at the end of the day. It’s tough, but it’s what comes with it.”
It’s what comes with losing, and the Nets have done far too much of that, and in far too ugly a fashion.
The Nets have lost 23 of 31 coming into Thursday’s game in Toronto.
“We didn’t get enough wins. … And [we were] dropping some games, not playing as hard,” Thomas said. “It’s on both parties, coaches, players, front office, everybody. Got to look at yourself in the mirror; so that’s just what we got to do.”
Now, the Nets get a fresh start with Thomas’ role under scrutiny.
Thomas is averaging 21.2 points, with only two younger players league-wide averaging more. But after having a hard time proving his defense and energy level to Vaughn, will Ollie see him as a locked-in starter and potential No. 1 scoring option, or as going back to square one?
Thomas actually went on a recruiting visit to UConn while Ollie was still the coach in Storrs, where he won the 2014 NCAA title.
“Cam has done an absolutely awesome job with scoring the basketball … but just the little things we’ve asked him to do: Getting out of himself,” Ollie said. “We talk about hitting all the time on rebounds, playing better defense, understanding you can be a masterpiece on offense and also be a masterpiece on defense.
“Seeing him grow in those areas has been great. We’re gonna push him even more and give him things that he has to do to continue to play at this level and continue to be the best player he can possibly be. And those things are the energy things, those are the effort things that we know he can do even on a better scale.”
Ollie talked about how Thomas gave him “the biggest hug ever” after Ollie’s first practice as interim on Tuesday night. And Thomas’ Cheshire cat grin the next afternoon could suggest confidence his role could stay the same or even grow.
Thomas said he hadn’t spoken to Vaughn since the firing.
“No. These last few days have been hectic … so I really haven’t gotten a chance to. I’ll definitely try to get to him,” Thomas said. “It’s tough, someone losing their job. But it’s part of the NBA business. We’re not producing as an organization … but it’s tough. I’ll definitely try to reach out to him.”
With the Nets enjoying a fairly clean injury report — and newly acquired guard Dennis Schröder needing to get worked in — Ollie has decisions to make.
In many ways, so does Marks.
“You see [Thomas] involving his teammates; you see him making the right reads and really trying to play with his teammates,” Marks said two weeks ago. “It’s exciting to see where Cam can take his game.”
It was Marks who called Thomas about the regime change. And ultimately, Marks will have to make a call on the guard’s contract talks.
The Nets had already picked up Thomas’ $4 million option for next season but can extend him this summer. It’s far from certain because letting him reach restricted free agency gives them a chance to be creative with sequencing contracts or include him in a deal for a star, if need be.
It’s hard to gauge his value around the league. Just like it’s tough to predict how his role will play out the rest of this season.