If Cam Thomas Signs Nets Qualifying Offer, What Comes Next?

As it currently stands, Cam Thomas is likely preparing to spend the 2025-26 season back with the Brooklyn Nets, albeit on the qualifying offer. Thomas and the organization are both far apart in contract negotiations, and the 23-year-old guard has reportedly started to consider the possibility of playing next year with a minimal salary of just $6 million.

"The Nets' Cam Thomas might be the most likely of the four notable restricted free agents out there — along with Giddey, Kuminga and Philadelphia's Quentin Grimes — to take the bet-on-yourself option and accept his qualifying offer," NBA insider Jake Fischer wrote today on The Stein Line. "Brooklyn has not made an aggressive effort to retain Thomas on any long-term deal, sources say."

Such a scenario would present Thomas the opportunity to sign wherever he chooses come the summer of 2026, even if his market may be somewhat limited. Remember, while Thomas is quite a polarizing player, the lack of interest in him is primarily due to a lack of cap space around the league.

Unfortunately for Thomas, teams being cautious with their cap space won't be exclusive to this summer. We've seen plenty of salary-shedding moves over the last few months due to the new collective bargaining agreement, and that aspect will carry over into next offseason.

So, if Thomas wants to be paid, there's only a handful of teams that will be able to oblige—one of them being the Nets. Brooklyn can presumably pay him more than any other franchise—barring some savvy money-saving moves, of course—but after the drawn-out negotiations, Thomas may no longer want to be a Net.

He's wiped his social media accounts of all things Nets, which could very well just be a negotiation tactic, but it could signal a desire to split from the organization that drafted him.

Now, which teams—outside of Brooklyn—would be vying for Thomas' services? Due to his situation, there haven't been any franchises directly named this summer, so it's hard to gauge. Maybe a team like the Detroit Pistons would float an offer? Pair Thomas with Cade Cunningham in a sign-and-trade that could land the Nets Jaden Ivey? That'd be a dream scenario for Brooklyn, especially if Thomas isn't in the long-term plans.

The uniqueness of Thomas' dilemma is: even though he can sign the qualifying offer and put all the contract drama from this summer to bed, that doesn't provide real closure, which likely won't emerge until his future is definite—and that may not happen for another year.