Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas is in the midst of his first foray in NBA free-agency, but as of this writing, he remains unsigned despite being one of the better scorers in the league. Brooklyn appears to be taking negotiations slowly with Thomas while Thomas’ camp is looking for the best deal. There may be a reason why Thomas is having a hard time getting paid.

“He can flat-out score, no doubt about that, but teams want more than a bucket-getter at that price point. You’re talking $25–30 million per year — there’s got to be some defensive buy-in, some playmaking, some winning impact. That’s where the hesitation is,” an Eastern Conference scout said of Thomas, Grant Afseth wrote for Fast Break Journal. Thomas seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place given his restricted free-agency.

“If you’re building a team, are you giving Cam Thomas that kind of money to be your top option? Probably not,” a Western Conference executive said of Thomas, per Afseth. “And if he’s your third guy, that’s a big number for someone who doesn’t defend or create for his teammates at a high level.”

Thomas, 23, is coming off his best season in his four-year NBA career as he averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. Part of what could be complicating Thomas’ prospects in free-agency could be the fact that he played in just 25 games during his career-best 2024-25 campaign.

Throughout the course of the past season, Thomas was expected to command somewhere between $20 million and $30 million per season based off how well he played. However, Thomas remains unsigned and it’s unknown when he will re-sign with the Nets or possibly be given an offer sheet by another team. If the reports continue to sound like the one from Afseth, it seems that Thomas will have some tough decisions to make soon.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Report: NBA front offices think Nets’ Cam Thomas wants too much money