Last month, the Bucks announced that they had waived Cam Thomas after just 18 games played with them. They would later convert Pete Nance’s two-way contract into a standard one, according to Yahoo.
Thomas spent six weeks with the Bucks after he was claimed off waivers following the Brooklyn Nets’ waiving him on February 8th, after the trade deadline had passed. Brooklyn selected Thomas with the 27th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of LSU, but would later see his role with the team diminish this season. He would start the first eight games, averaging 24 minutes per game, and averaged 15.6 points and 3.1 assists.
When he arrived, Thomas received great praise from the Bucks’ brass, general manager Jon Horst, and head coach Doc Rivers. Horst spoke about wanting Thomas to be a key piece for the franchise moving forward, and Rivers compared him to former Six Man of the Year winners Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams after game two with the team.
“They’re similar, but they’re all different in their own ways,” Rivers said on Feb. 11, via The Athletic. “Cam wants to do right. He wants to play well. You can see that. And we’re going to give him every opportunity. I mean, the guy is a natural scorer, and you can see that. Probably forced one or two today where he overdribbled. You live with that, and you teach that to get that out of him. But overall, he was fantastic.”
Thomas’ former teammate with the Bucks, Bobby Portis, recently spoke about Thomas’ being waived by the Bucks on Talking on Run it Back on FanDuel TV.
“I just hate what happened to Cam. When you’re a pro, and you understand the dynamics of being a pro, you obviously, you know, root for other guys on your team to do good and have success especially if you’re teammates,” said Portis.
“In your career, you’re going to have a hundred-plus teammates, so obviously you want to see guys win…I think that something good is down the line coming towards him that’ll come into fruition for him, but he’s got to keep his head down and keep working.”
Former NBA guard Patrick Beverley recently weighed in on Thomas being waived.
“Cam Thomas, you done lost your damn mind,” Beverley said on “The Pat Bev Show.” “I did a take before saying, whatever money they throw at you the first time, if you’re not a superstar ーand I mean a superstar in the realm of all stars ー you have to take what they’re throwing at you first.”
“It puts you in the algorithm of the bag, when I mean the algorithm, it shows you to the NBA and to your peers that, yes, I am worthy of how much did they offer them the first time I am worthy, they rejected the two year 30 million Okay, the algorithm puts you at $15 million a year. That’s the algorithm. If you overplay that. Now the algorithm takes you up a notch. That’s what the algorithm does. That’s what getting in the first bag does. You always have to secure the first bag. Cam Thomas, last six months, one in 30 to $40 million from Brooklyn rejected a two year $30 million deal signed for a one year, $6 million deal, waived by the book, and that signed to the Milwaukee Bucks on February 8, waved by the bucks on March 23 fire your agent.”
He added, “Get new homies. I don’t know if you got a girl leave her ass too. Straight up, straight up, because the people around you aren’t giving you good advice at all. “
Since he was waived after the March 1 deadline, he will not be eligible to play in the 2026 NBA playoffs anymore, per Keith Smith of Spotrac. However, he is able to sign with a team if any NBA has interest in signing him.
