Should The Pistons Add Cam Thomas As A Secondary Scorer?

Since the Detroit Pistons are in first place in the Eastern Conference, it is debatable if the team even needs to make a trade before the deadline arrives in early February. However, as soon as Dec. 15 passed, NBA teams became eligible to trade players who were signed during the offseason, so it was seen as the unofficial opening of the trade window. 

Lately, the Pistons have found themselves embroiled in rumors for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis, but it is important to focus on Detroit’s main need– perimeter shooting and a consistent No. 2 scorer opposite Cade Cunningham. Both Giannis and Davis would fulfill the latter requirement, but the Pistons would still be searching for a steady outside shot to pair with Duncan Robinson on the wing. 

That’s where Cam Thomas comes into play.

Stationed on the Brooklyn Nets for the moment, Thomas is in his fifth season, but the team appears more than willing to part ways with the talented iso scorer for the right package in return. At 6-3, Thomas is an off-ball guard who averages more than 20 points per game and really knows how to get his own shot up as an isolation specialist, so the Pistons would benefit from adding a player with that profile to the squad. However, Thomas plays a brand of basketball that raises question marks on whether his game would fit in Detroit’s offense with J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm.

This season, Thomas is posting 21.4 points a night through eight games, and he’s hitting 35% of his shots from behind the arc. On the surface, those are positive aspects that would make Thomas an attractive piece for the Pistons to add, but the potential trade candidate has a reputation for dribbling the rubber off the basketball and monopolizing possessions with his singular, iso-dominant focus on offense. 

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Now, the Pistons would not shy away from accepting another player who can handle the ball and lighten the nightly responsibility that Cunningham bears, but Thomas is not an effective shot creator, averaging only 2.6 dimes per game this season. So, Thomas poses the risk of bogging down Detroit’s team-oriented offense where any player can go off for 15+ points on any given night. 

While Thomas would act as an instant-offense threat who could put up points in a hurry, the Nets have struggled to find out how to unlock his game as a playmaker. And when that aspect is taken into account with his sub-par defensive metrics, Thomas becomes a player that would fit better on teams not named the Detroit Pistons.

Sports Illustrated’s Brooklyn Nets writer Kyler Fox wrote about what Thomas brings to the table over the summer.

“He has a career defensive rating of 118, per Statmuse, marking Thomas as one of the least effective defensive players in the league,” Fox wrote. “His playmaking ability is also lackluster, emphasized by his league-low 13.9% AST% in 2024–25 despite high usage.

But, man, can he score.”

That seems to be the scouting report on Thomas so far in the league. He’s a talented off-ball guard who knows his way around the bucket with a steady outside shot, but he is difficult to build a rhythmic offense around and can be a liability on defense. And since Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff employs a defense-first mentality, working Thomas into the rotation without compromising those principles could be a challenge. 

READ MORE: Anthony Davis Named Trade Target For Detroit Pistons

To be quite frank, Thomas offers a lot of the same qualities that Jaden Ivey does, except that he’s not as quick or as defensively-engaged as Ivey has proven to be. So, the Pistons are not likely to jump at the opportunity to unload assets in order to trade for a player when that profile already exists on the roster in Detroit.

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