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MIAMI — Remember when Cam Thomas said he’d average 25 points if he started?
He was just being humble.
And now his scoring is becoming historic.
Brooklyn’s young guard comes into Wednesday’s game in Miami averaging 33.0 points on .614 shooting, having topped 30 in the Nets’ first three games of the season.
It’s a stretch that validates the belief in him from all levels of the organization, and is putting him in rarefied air.
“Just me playing my game, being comfortable playing within the flow of the offense,” Thomas said. “Credit to the guys finding me, letting me play my game. So credit to all the guys finding me in the transition, and even half-court when they let me go iso, get all the spacing when I have the matchup I want.
“So, credit to the guys [because they] let me attack; to the coaches as well. So, nah, I’m just comfortable. Third year, so you’re pretty much comfortable with what the defense is like normally going against you. So, I’d probably say just comfortable. Being more comfortable.”
Thomas, still just 22, is the second youngest player in league history to open a season with three straight 30-point outings.
The youngest? Shaquille O’Neal, who was 21 years, 248 days.
After spending his first two seasons struggling to force his way into the rotation, much less the starting lineup, those days appear done.
Yes, shorthanded Brooklyn’s options were limited with Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton out, and Spencer Dinwiddie and Dennis Smith Jr. doubtful versus the Eastern Conference champs.
But Thomas has contributed on both ends, seventh in the league in Win Shares — his maturation and improved attention to detail finally making a believer out of Jacque Vaughn.
“[Thomas] is enjoying competing on both ends of the floor,” said Vaughn, who started Thomas the past two games. “He’s gained extreme amount of trust with his teammates. We know he has the ability to score the basketball, but it’s not forced. It’s within the flow of our offense which you see.
“Then at certain times, we need him to get a bucket that he’s capable of doing that also. So he’s learning how to survey the game a little bit when he’s needed, when he’s a facilitator, when he’s getting to the paint for us, which he’s done that at a high level also. So he’s just continuing to grow as a third year player and I’m happy to see.”
It certainly sounds like Thomas has his teammates’ trust.
They’ve seen his growth even from a year ago.
“He’s maturing,” Ben Simmons said. “He’s taking his time. He’s not rushing it. He’s trying to make the right play every time. So he’s going to keep learning and seeing different looks every time he comes down. But he’s a great and talented scorer.”
Now Thomas is finally getting a chance to show that.
Last season, he had three consecutive 40-point outings.
His three straight 30-point nights to open this season made him just the sixth player in the last five years to do so: Stephen Curry (twice), Luka Doncic, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Zach LaVine.
That’s august company.
And his 99 points are tied for second-most through three games in Nets history, behind only former mentor Kyrie Irving’s 113.
Thomas, putting Irving’s offensive lessons into practice, already had next season’s option picked up for a bargain $4 million.
Whatever happens when Johnson and Dinwiddie return, it’s clear Thomas has to play major minutes and be a focal point of the attack.
“Just reading the defense, letting everything come to me, not forcing anything or rushing anything, cause that’s how you get in trouble when you start rushing and forcing, because that’s when they can load up on you,” Thomas said. “So the main thing was just like making the right reads for the teammates. Keep on building; we got another game coming up.”
That comes Wednesday, with a chance to extend his white-hot start versus the Heat.