Noah Clowney isn’t the only Net who reshaped his body this offseason. While the third-year forward bulked up with added muscle, teammates Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe have stood out for their trimmed-down frames.
Thomas and Sharpe are noticeably leaner, listed at 214 and 265 pounds on the initial roster, giving Brooklyn even more offseason change to celebrate throughout training camp. The Nets have emphasized conditioning under head coach Jordi Fernández, and Thomas and Sharpe’s transformations fit that organizational push.
“Just something I wanted to do,” Thomas said. “My last two years, I wanted to put on a little more weight, try the strong, bulky route. I mean, it was cool. I never liked how I looked, honestly. But the results were still good. At the end of the day, it’s about how you look and how you feel, so I feel like I look better and I feel better. We’ll see how it goes this year.”
Thomas has produced regardless of weight, coming off a 2024-25 season where he averaged 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists across 25 games.
Sharpe showed similar reliability, posting 7.9 points and 6.6 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game as Brooklyn’s reserve center.
“I was just trying to get better as a pro, get better as a basketball player,” Sharpe said. “I’m trying to be able to play more minutes and not be gassed out if I’ve got to play more minutes, for consecutive games or whatever. So just trying to get in the best shape I could be.”
Thomas, 23, signed a $6 million qualifying offer to remain with the Nets for 2025-26, wagering that better health and stronger production will position him for a bigger multi-year payday as an unrestricted free agent in 2026. Sharpe, also 23, secured a two-year, $12 million deal before camp, with a team option on the second year.
“It was flexibility, I tried to get my flexible stretch in, doing pilates, stuff like that,” Sharpe said when asked about his focus this offseason. “Shooting the ball, just running consistently, staying on the bike, even on days on vacation stuff like that, just run on the bike, run on the treadmill, tapping in with the performance team… I was still trying to do what I had to do to be in the best fit.”
Both players need strong seasons to cement their place in Brooklyn’s future. Shedding weight doesn’t guarantee results, but it should leave them better conditioned for the grind of an 82-game schedule. Thomas has a chance to prove he’s a bona fide star, while Sharpe — on pace to set an NBA record with 8.7 rebounds per 100 possessions — can further stake his claim as one of the league’s best on the glass.
“If I have the weight on or not, I’ll still be doing the same thing,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t really change how you play, really. At the end of the day, it’s how you look and how you feel. I feel good. Feel good, look good, and you play good. The weight, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just what you go out there and do.”
