Cam Thomas to miss rest of season with another left hamstring injury

Thomas’ third aggravation of his left hamstring will end his season prematurely, limiting him to just 25 games played.

Cam Thomas is done for the season.

The Brooklyn Nets announced Saturday afternoon that the fourth-year guard has re-re-injured his left hamstring, the source of all his injury troubles in 2024-2025.

“The injury occurred during Thursday night’s game at Chicago,” said the statement. “Given the number of days remaining in the schedule and the time needed to appropriately recover, it is expected that Thomas will miss the remainder of the season.”

Thomas first pulled his left hamstring in a November 25 victory against the Golden State Warriors, prompting a month-long absence. He returned for two games before injuring it again, then missed eight weeks.

The 23-year-old had played six of Brooklyn’s last eight games — not yet playing both ends of a back-to-back — even notching his first career double-double against Chicago on Thursday…

Thomas played 32:29 in that one, his most minutes in a game since the initial injury on November 25, and did not appear to hurt it again on any particular play.

Edit: During pregame on Saturday, Head Coach Jordi Fernández told reporters that Thomas’ injury happened on the final play of the game. Going back and reviewing the tape, it does become clear that Thomas hurt himself on the final shot attempt of the night…

Assuming he indeed does not return in 2024-2025, he will finish his fourth season averaging 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game, all career-highs. Despite shooting just 34.9% from three, lowest since his rookie year, he’ll also finish with a career-best 57.5% true shooting, exactly league-average. Per Cleaning the Glass, Thomas took more shots than ever both at the rim and from three, in addition to drawing a ton of fouls.

For the Brooklyn Nets and Thomas, the focus now turns to contract negotiations. The 27th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is a restricted free agent this summer, and given Brooklyn’s staggering flexibility in a league where few teams have free cap space, in addition to Thomas’ divisive talents, where those negotiations are headed is anybody’s guess.

“We feel for him,” said Fernández. “Obviously it’s not something that we wanted. And, you know, we’ll support him, support him through the rehab. We know he’ll be back. And, you know, obviously, having him around, it’s going to be good. Good for him, good for us.”

Brooklyn’s position in the standings has them fighting tooth-and-nail for NBA Draft Lottery odds, and thus, some will view this news through the lens of a tank. But the Nets have not been markedly better with Thomas on the court, and most importantly, this is now the third time he’s injured his left hamstring.

Sprained ankles cost Cam Thomas 16 games last season, but this seems to be a far more serious issue.

The Nets, minus Thomas, will take on the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET.