Nets' Head Coach Provides Health Update on Cam Thomas

Earlier in the week, the Brooklyn Nets started their post-All-Star Break portion of the season with a 97-110 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which could come back to haunt them as their quest for a spot in the Play-In Tournament continues to go on.

Their loss against Cleveland marked their 15th game in which the Nets have been held to 100 points or less, as they have the second lowest scoring numbers per game amongst all NBA teams, inching out the Orlando Magic by 0.7 points.

While Brooklyn has players such as D'Angelo Russell and Cameron Johnson helping power their offensive engine, they've been without their leading scorer, Cam Thomas, for a significant chunk of the season. Throughout the 19 games that Thomas has partaken in this season, he's averaged 24.7 points per game on an efficient 44 percent from the field, with his scoring numbers being on track to be a career-high.

Yet, these performances came to a halt in early January, when the 23-year-old suffered from a strained left hamstring in a match against the Milwaukee Bucks, which has kept him out ever since, missing the Nets' last 22 games.

The initial timetable for Thomas' return was set to see him come back after the festivities of All-Star weekend, which is still accurate according to Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez, who feels that the 23-year-old's return is imminent.

"It's going to be soon, I cannot tell you exactly when," said Fernandez. "It's trending in the right direction, he's in a good place, we're happy to have him back soon."

The update comes after Thomas had started to partake in 5v5 drills in practice, which he thrived in according to Fernandez.

"He scored a lot... I told the coaches to pass him the ball and let him shoot," explained the Nets' head coach. "He was great, he did a good job, he's in a good place, it's good to see him play."

Fernandez's update is music to the ears of the Brooklyn faithful as this year hasn't been the kindest to Thomas, who has missed two big stints of games due to issues with his hamstring.

Given the recent injury to the aforementioned Russell, who is sidelined for at least the Nets' two next games according to the New York Post's Brian Lewis, Thomas' return will become that much more important for the remaining 26 games of the season.

While the return date isn't set in stone as of now, Brooklyn has a pretty well spaced out schedule in the upcoming week, having a game every other day except for their back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, meaning there is plenty of time for Thomas to continue his recovery process.

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