Cam Thomas finished last season outside of the Brooklyn Nets' playoff rotation. It was a vexing choice to many given his historic scoring outburst just a couple months earlier, when he dropped 43 or more points in three straight February games. The former first-round pick made a final case for postseason minutes in the regular season finale, dropping 46 points and six triples on 29 shots against the Philadelphia 76ers.

To say Thomas picked up Wednesday night right where he left off would be misleading. He scored just six points in the last official game he played for Brooklyn, a Game 3 loss to the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs. Still, anyone who paid even passing attention to the Nets last season wasn't surprised at how kicked off 2023-24. Of course, that hardly means Brooklyn fans were any less excited watching Thomas scorch nets once again.

Thomas scored 24 points in the first half of the Nets' season-opening tilt with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and going 7-of-9 from the free throw line in just 14 minutes off the bench.

Nets faithful could hardly contain themselves, and rightfully so, some begging coach Jacque Vaughn to give Thomas a bigger role this season.

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Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) looks to the basket in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
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You can't really blame Brooklyn fans for wanting to see more of Thomas. The Nets are starved for offensive and shot-making dynamism behind Mikal Bridges, and Thomas has consistently proven he's one of the best pure bucket-getters in basketball. It's not like they lack a solid defensive infrastructure, either. Brooklyn is hanging its hand on that side of the ball this season, deploying multiple All-Defense in Nic Claxton, Bridges and a rejuvenated Ben Simmons.

Does this look like a guy who should be fighting tooth and nail for minutes?

Cam Thomas won't always be on fire. He needs to learn to better play within the team construct offensively, not to mention commit to doing all he can to minimize the ripples of his inevitable weaknesses on the other end. At least when he really has the jumper going, though, Vaughn shouldn't hesitate to ride Thomas' hot hand, regardless of his planned role coming into the game.