Nets guard Cam Thomas was removed from Thursday’s injury report and is set to make his long-awaited return in Friday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers at Barclays Center.
Brooklyn’s top scorer had missed 24 straight games because of a left hamstring strain. He hasn’t appeared in a game since Jan. 2 and has played just twice since Nov. 25 because of nagging hamstring issues.
Although Thomas’ availability has been severely limited this season, he’s been an offensive force when healthy. He’s averaged 24.7 points, 3.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds across 19 games this season while shooting 46.1% from the field and 38.9% from 3-point range.
“We know he does offensively so, there’s no question,” Trendon Watford said. “We all know exactly what Cam Thomas is going to do when he gets back out there. I think all our offensive struggles will come to an end as soon as he steps foot out there.”
The 23-year-old progressed to 5-on-5 drills last week and looked “good,” according to head coach Fernandez. Brooklyn was 13-26 without him this season entering Friday’s game.
The Nets also had an offensive rating of 115.7 with Thomas this season, which dropped to 107.3 without him. Despite boasting the NBA’s best defense in February, Brooklyn has continued to struggle on offense. Thomas’ return should improve its efficiency at that end of the court.
“Personnel-wise and considering Cam’s out, I feel like some of the offensive struggles will be expected,” Watford said. “Having the best defense in the league and then having one of the worst offenses in the league, I guess it’s a give and take… Getting CT back, getting Noah [Clowney] back. Noah’s one of the best shooters on the team. It’s going to have a lot of improvement on that side of the ball.”
Clowney (left ankle sprain) and D’Angelo Russell (right ankle sprain) will remain out against Portland. Kendall Brown, Tosan Evbuomwan and Dariq Whitehead are on G League assignment and won’t be available to play on Friday, either.
The Nets entered Friday 1½ games behind the Chicago Bulls for the 10th and final Play-In Tournament spot in the Eastern Conference. If they can maintain a Top 10 defense with Thomas playing, they’ll have a chance to make noise down the stretch.
“I mean, it’s good to try to manifest and speak things like that into existence; but I like us just coming in one day at a time, one game at a time,” Russell said. “I know how hard we work. So, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel for our group.”
