Cam Thomas

Nets Notes: Thomas, Rotation, Lewis, C. Johnson

March 20th, 2025 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Cam Thomas was limited to just 25 appearances this season due to a series of hamstring injuries, but he believes he has shown enough when healthy to prove that he can be a foundational piece for an NBA team, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“Yeah, of course. When I got major minutes, I feel like I’ve been one of the best guards in the league in my position,” Thomas said earlier this week. “I feel like I’ve shown that. So, nothing really to talk about with that. But I feel like when I do have the minutes in a featured role, the sky’s the limit for me. We’ve seen that these past two years.”

Thomas will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer and one league source who spoke to Lewis speculated that the high-scoring guard, who has averaged 22.9 points per game in 91 outings since the start of the 2023/24 season, could command a contract in the range of $20-22MM per year. For his part, Thomas said he hasn’t thought much about free agency and isn’t necessarily excited about going through the process.

“I don’t really care. It’s just part of the business. Whoever wants me, hopefully it’s here (in Brooklyn). I’d love to come back. But it is what it is. It’s just part of the business,” he said, per Lewis. “I’m just going to take it day by day. It’s a long time from now, so I’m not really worried about that.”

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In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Lewis considers how Thomas’ latest absence will impact his Nets teammates. Cameron Johnson once again becomes Brooklyn’s top scoring option, Lewis writes, while Keon Johnson figures to hang onto his spot in the starting lineup and Maxwell Lewis gets a shot to play rotation minutes.
Speaking of Lewis, the second-year forward – acquired from the Lakers in December’s D’Angelo Russell/Dorian Finney-Smith trade – has been making an impression on the franchise with his recent contributions, Lewis notes in another Post story. After scoring a total of just 21 points in his first 47 career NBA outings, Lewis has scored 28 in his last three and was a +30 in 57 minutes during that three-game stretch. “I like what I saw,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said of Lewis on Tuesday. “… His energy is contagious. And you can tell his teammates on the bench every time he does something positive, they celebrate. That’s the most important thing. You see that chemistry.” Lewis’ minimum salary for next season is partially guaranteed for just $100K, so he’ll be motivated to earn his 2025/26 roster spot.
Cameron Johnson was one of the NBA’s most notable in-season trade candidates who didn’t end up being moved prior to the February 6 deadline. Speaking to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Johnson admitted that it was a stressful period for him, knowing he could be sent to a new team any day. “(It’s) probably not as fun as it is watching,” he said of the trade deadline. “Everybody, you want to know what’s going on in life. Uncertainty can be difficult.” The veteran forward also pointed out that he thought the Nets might be “just in a sale mode” after they traded Finney-Smith and Dennis Schröder, so he interpreted the team’s decision to hang onto him as a sign that the front office remains high on what he brings to the team. “I do appreciate maybe the value that they associated with having me on the team versus getting rid of me,” Johnson said.

Nets Notes: Russell, Thomas, Hayes

March 16th, 2025 at 8:29pm CST by Tristan Tucker

D’Angelo Russell has said he’d like to extend his second stint in Brooklyn, a team with whom he has spent 152 games with during his career. He’s on an expiring $18.7MM contract and spoke again about his impending free agency with the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.

“I don’t think it’s in my control, to be honest,” Russell said. “I’ve been on the team before where everybody was free agents, too. So they’ve got the leverage, they’ve got the cards. If they decide to bring me back, cool. If not, we’ll figure it out.”

Since being traded to the Nets ahead of this year’s deadline, Russell is averaging 13.3 points and 5.7 assists. Brooklyn saw the point guard blossom into an All-Star in his age-22 season in 2018/19, then signed-and-traded him to Golden State during the 2019 offseason as part of the team’s Kevin Durant acquisition.

“Hope? Yeah. [But] I just want to be in the NBA,” Russell said when asked if he hopes to remain with the Nets. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a free agent. I look back on it, I’ve never been. For me, it’s a weird feeling, but see how it goes. I signed an extension with the Lakers, two years — one-plus-one, player option. I just never hit [free agency]. So I’m excited to see.”

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Like Russell, Cam Thomas is also set to be a free agent this summer, though he’ll be restricted rather than unrestricted. “It’s a business, but at the end of the day,” Thomas said, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter video link). “I would love to be back and get that straightened out to keep playing in front of the fans and keep building the relationships I’ve built here because I was drafted here.”
Thomas is averaging 24.0 points and 3.8 assists this season while shooting 34.9% on 7.8 three-point attempts per game. However, he was limited to just 25 games this season before being shut down due to his latest hamstring injury. Head coach Jordi Fernandez discussed Thomas’s summer and what the plan is for him moving forward, per Scotto (Twitter link). “Cam’s been great for the group,” Fernandez said. “He’s worked every single day. He’s built relationships. We all know his superpower of being a very good scorer. The way we played through him, I thought the team was playing at a high level. We’ll go through the summer together. We have a plan in place. The plan is going to be a team that wins consistently, and we’re going to get there together.“
Killian Hayes rejoined the Nets’ G League affiliate in Long Island after not getting a second 10-day from Brooklyn earlier this month (though that could still be an option down the line). As Scott Mitchell of NetsDaily observes, Hayes had a career game on Friday, scoring a professional career-high 38 points along with eight threes. Even though he’s playing for Brooklyn’s affiliate, the veteran guard is eligible to sign with any NBA team.

Cam Thomas Expected To Miss Rest Of Season With Hamstring Injury

March 15th, 2025 at 1:34pm CST by Luke Adams

Cam Thomas is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, according to the Nets, who announced today that the fourth-year guard has been diagnosed with another left hamstring strain (Twitter link via Evan Barnes of Newsday).

It’s a disappointing end to an injury-plagued season for Thomas, who missed most of December due to a left hamstring strain, returned for two games, then aggravated the injury on January 2 and was sidelined for 24 more contests before making his most recent return in late February.

Thomas was a major offensive threat when he was healthy, leading the Nets in scoring with 24.0 points per game and bumping his assists to a career-high 3.8 per game. However, his production was inconsistent after he began dealing with those hamstring issues.

Through his first 17 outings in October and November, Thomas was scoring efficiently, with a .461 FG% and .389 3PT% — those rates dropped to a .395 FG% and .275 3PT% in his final eight appearances.

It’s a contract year for Thomas, who is in the final year of his rookie deal and will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason. Back in the fall, he appeared headed for a significant payday, but it’s unclear how his lost second half might affect his negotiations over the summer.

It at least seems safe to assume the 23-year-old will still receive a qualifying offer from the Nets, making him an RFA. Because he’ll fall eight starts shy of meeting the “starter criteria,” that QO will be worth $5.99MM instead of $8.74MM.

As long as that qualifying offer is on the table, Thomas would have the option of accepting it and playing out next season on a one-year deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2026. He’d likely only consider that path if he can’t agree to terms on a multiyear deal with Brooklyn and doesn’t receive an offer sheet he likes from a rival suitor.

Keon Johnson has frequently been the odd man out of the starting lineup since Thomas’ return a couple weeks ago. He figures to regain his starting spot alongside Nic Claxton, Cameron Johnson, D’Angelo Russell, and Ziaire Williams now that Thomas is inactive again.

Nets Notes: Russell, Thomas, Clowney, Skid Ends

March 11th, 2025 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

D’Angelo Russell is in his second stint with the Nets after being traded from the Lakers this season. Russell becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer and is hoping to re-sign with Brooklyn, he confirmed to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

“Why wouldn’t I? I keep seeing stuff coming out. I’ll tell you. Heck yeah. I want to be wherever I’m at,” Russell said. “I’m here. I love these guys. I appreciate this, and I would love to be back.”

Russell feels he has developed a solid relationship with first-year coach Jordi Fernandez.

“I’m at the point in my career where I’m not going out and scoring 25 points every night and wowing with numbers,” he said. “It’s a point where I’m trying to gravitate towards doing it the right way, and how I can contribute to winning is my priority. (Fernandez) lets me do that. He trusts me already, so I can imagine getting to training camp for something like that and having that under my belt with the guys. I think the sky’s the limit.”

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Cam Thomas is eligible to become a restricted free agent after the season. While he’s a proven scorer, Thomas still leaves much to be desired in other aspects of his game, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Fernandez has challenged him to become more efficient and well-rounded, especially as a defender and facilitator. However, he’s still very much a work in progress. Lewis notes that Charlotte aggressively trapped Thomas during the Nets’ fourth-quarter collapse on Saturday. The fourth-year guard has also struggled to stay on the court, missing 81 games over the last three seasons due to injury.
Brooklyn snapped a seven-game losing streak by upsetting the Lakers on Monday and Noah Clowney played a big role with a team-high 19 points and five rebounds. Clowney was playing in just his second game since recovering from an ankle injury that caused him to miss 15 games. The 2023 first-round pick has been a backup at power forward, but it would behoove the organization to give him steady minutes to see if he can be their starting power forward over the long haul, Lewis suggests.
Fernandez was pleased with the effort the team put forth against one of the Western Conference’s elite teams on Monday vs. the Lakers, according to Lewis. “So happy for the guys, proud of the guys, because after losing seven in a row … it’s just good to get back to winning,” he said. “It’s a good reward for the work. And obviously, after a bad one, it’s a good feeling.”

Atlantic Notes: Grimes, Celtics, Thomas, Martin

March 8th, 2025 at 10:48am CST by Tristan Tucker

Quentin Grimes has been traded three times since February 2024, but he’s not letting that impact his play, as Jared Weiss of The Athletic details. As we wrote on Thursday, Grimes is looking like a keeper for the Sixers, having averaged 16.8 points per game in his first 12 appearances with the team.

“It’s tough. As soon as you get comfortable, you get traded,” Grimes said. “But you gotta keep a level head. You got to go out there and produce.”

While Grimes had productive moments in New York and Dallas, he’s getting a chance to have the ball in his hands far more than before, initiating offense as opposed to simply spotting up.

“He’s been able to still kind of find his way, even with the extra pressure, extra bodies,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s doing a good job of just getting into his shots and getting to places that he wants to go and getting the shots off. Obviously, he’s on a bit of a hot streak.”

According to Weiss, Grimes was shocked to be traded from Dallas this season. He had been productive there, averaging 10.2 points while shooting 39.8% from three in 47 games (12 starts).

“It’s crazy what’s going on, so it’s a blessing in disguise that I got moved,” Grimes said. “But I feel for them for sure. We had a tight-knit group over there this season. We had a good chance of winning it all. But that’s the NBA and dudes get moved all the time.”

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The Celtics blew out the Sixers on Thursday, winning by nearly 20 points despite being down five rotation players. None of Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis or Sam Hauser were able to suit up, allowing for Boston’s bench players to step up. According to MassLive’s Brian Robb, Baylor Scheierman, Torrey Craig and Jordan Walsh were among the standouts. Scheierman scored a career-high 15 points, Craig accounted for 12 and Walsh had several good moments. Neemias Queta and two-way player Drew Peterson also both started for Boston. Queta recorded eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Nets guard Cam Thomas is looking to finish the season strong after injuries disrupted a promising year, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Thomas will hit restricted free agency after the season. “I mean, that’s just the name of it. I just want to finish strong just to finish strong,” Thomas said. “I’m not really worried about [my] contract year or anything. I mean, I think all of that will take care of itself.”
In his last six games, Nets forward Tyrese Martin is averaging 12.0 points per contest, including a 23-point outburst against Detroit on March 1 and a 17-point outing in a close loss to Golden State on Thursday. As the New York Post’s Bridget Reilly writes, Martin is becoming an indispensable bench piece for Brooklyn. “Yeah, consistency. He’s a true pro. I play him off the ball, he plays well. I play him at point guard, he does his best and he’s getting better, like [Thursday],” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Defensively, he’s on point. He knows coverages, he knows everything. He shows up and works every day with a good attitude and he’s a great teammate. That’s what we want from everybody, but it’s not that easy to do it. He’s doing it consistently and that’s why he deserves all these good things that are coming to him, that he’s doing, that are coming his way.” Martin was recently converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal and has a team option for next season.

D’Angelo Russell Interested In Re-Signing With Nets?

March 5th, 2025 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Nets acquired D’Angelo Russell from the Lakers in the Dorian Finney-Smith trade in December, the veteran point guard was included primarily because of his $18.7MM expiring contract, not because Brooklyn was specifically looking to reunite with the former Net.

However, Russell has been a stabilizing force in Brooklyn’s backcourt for the last two-plus months. While his individual numbers – 13.7 points and 5.7 assists in 24.1 minutes per game on .380/.313/.887 shooting – aren’t great, the Nets are 8-10 in games he has played and 1-10 in the ones he has missed.

The team also has a -1.2 net rating in D-Lo’s 434 minutes on the court, compared to a -13.2 mark in the 963 minutes he hasn’t played since the trade.

Russell, who expressed enthusiasm in the wake of the December trade about returning to an organization he was familiar with, is believed to have told people around him that he’d like to stick with the Nets beyond this season, reports Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

While there’s no guarantee that will happen, it seems more viable now than it did when he was first acquired, according to Lewis, who notes that it remains unclear how Nets general manager Sean Marks plans to use his cap room this summer with so few top-tier free agents on track to reach the open market.

If Brooklyn doesn’t need all $60MM+ of its cap room for trades or outside free agents, or if the front office decides to roll that room over to the 2026 offseason, it could make sense for the team to offer a one-year contract or a two-year deal with a team option to Russell, Lewis writes.

That may appeal to Russell too, Lewis adds, given that there are so few teams projected to have cap room — the veteran point guard seems unlikely to receive a substantial offer from another suitor.

How the Nets use Russell over the season’s final weeks could provide a hint at their offseason plans. One subplot to watch, Lewis suggests, will be how the 29-year-old meshes in the backcourt with Cam Thomas. The two guards, neither of whom are known for their defense, have missed time with injuries since Russell’s arrival and played together for just the second time on Tuesday.

Like Russell, Thomas is on an expiring contract. The fourth-year shooting guard will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.

Nets Notes: Thomas, Sharpe, D-Lo, Clowney, Williams, Draft Picks

March 1st, 2025 at 2:55pm CST by Luke Adams

After missing nearly two months due to a left hamstring strain, the Nets‘ leading scorer, Cam Thomas, returned to action on Friday and had what he called a “decent first game back,” scoring 16 points in 21 minutes, Brian Lewis writes for The New York Post.

“Obviously, missed some shots I normally make when I’m in rhythm and playing, but it’s just the nature of being on for a while and coming back and playing first game,” said Thomas, who was 7-of-17 from the floor in the 19-point loss to Portland. “So shots, not really worried about that; that’s going to come. But it feels good to finally finish a game and have no pain. So that’s the main thing I’m pleased with. So just got to keep building and keep going.”

Thomas will be held out of the second game of Brooklyn’s back-to-back on Saturday in Detroit due to hamstring injury management, tweets Lewis. Trendon Watford, who missed time earlier this season with a hamstring injury of his own, will be inactive with the same designation.

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Day’Ron Sharpe, who will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end, returned to the second unit on Friday but was excellent in his first start of the season on Wednesday, racking up 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists, and three blocks vs. Oklahoma City. He was a +20 in 31 minutes in a game Brooklyn lost by eight points. “I’m just a beast on them boards. I don’t really think nobody can mess with me in the paint when it comes to that,” Sharpe said, according to Lewis. “Like I tell y’all every time, no matter how big, no matter how tall, its just what I do. You know what I’m saying? You’re gonna have to send three people to box me out. But I just play hard.”
D’Angelo Russell (right ankle sprain) and Noah Clowney (left ankle sprain) will remain on the shelf for Saturday’s game, which will be Russell’s fifth straight absence and a 13th consecutive missed game for Clowney. However, head coach Jordi Fernandez says both players are doing “great” and should resume practicing soon, Lewis writes for The Post. “We’ll probably talk about having them on the court at some point next week,” Fernandez said. “They’re progressing well, they’re around the group and they’ve been [helpful]. They’re great energy when we have them around. We need their presence. It’s good, because it seems like if everything goes well next week we’ll see where they’re at, and just try to keep working on that and have them get some contact and have them back on the court.”
Ziaire Williams, who had averaged 29.2 minutes per night in Brooklyn’s last 11 games entering Friday, played just 10:28 against Portland and wasn’t sure why, according to Lewis. Asked after the game if Fernandez, who has been encouraging Williams to shoot more three-pointers, pulled him early due to his unwillingness to pull the trigger more often, Williams replied, “Y’all know better than me, man. I got no idea.”
No team has more tradable first-round picks than the Nets, as RealGM details. Net Income of NetsDaily takes a closer look at what that means for the organization.

Nets’ Cam Thomas To Return On Friday

February 27th, 2025 at 6:36pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Nets guard Cam Thomas is set to make his return from a hamstring strain on Friday against the Trail Blazers, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). Thomas hasn’t made an appearance in a game since Jan. 2 due to the injury.

In his first 19 games this season, Thomas averaged 24.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per night while shooting 44.8% from the field and 37.5% on 7.6 three-point attempts per game. A talented scorer and shooter, Thomas should boost an offense that now ranks 27th on the season and has averaged just 100.7 points per game (which would rank last in the league by a wide margin) since Thomas went down.

Despite their underwhelming offensive numbers over the past couple months, the Nets are still only 1.5 games out of a play-in spot. They have games against the streaking Pistons and Warriors on the horizon, but the Nets have been competitive under first-year head coach Jordi Fernandez.

The rotation upon Thomas’s return will be worth monitoring. The LSU product didn’t start either of his previous two outings, as he had also missed almost all of December due to another hamstring injury. Keon Johnson has taken over the starting two guard spot since Thomas’s injury.

With both Thomas and D’Angelo Russell out, the Nets have been turning to a starting backcourt consisting of Killian Hayes and Johnson.

Josh Giddey Is Only 2025 RFA To Meet Starter Criteria So Far

February 25th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

When a player on an expiring contract is eligible for restricted free agency, his qualifying offer is determined in part by whether or not he met the “starter criteria” during the season – or two seasons – leading up to his free agency. As we explain in our glossary entry, a player meets the starter criteria when he achieves one of the following:

He plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency.
He averages either 2,000 minutes or 41 starts in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency.

If a top-14 pick coming to the end of his rookie contract fails to meet the starter criteria, the value of his qualifying offer declines. Conversely a player who was drafted at No. 10 or later or who went undrafted altogether can increase the value of his qualifying offer by meeting the starter criteria.

In many cases, an increase or decrease to a qualifying offer won’t materially affect the player’s restricted free agency, since a QO is just a one-year contract offer issued in order for the team to retain its right of first refusal. The player has the option of accepting it, but in most cases it functions as a placeholder until the RFA signs an offer sheet with a rival team or negotiates a new multiyear contract with his current team.

Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, for example, will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal when he reaches free agency this summer, so it won’t matter all that much if he falls short of the starter criteria and his QO drops from the standard amount of $10,240,287 to $7,976,830.

But for a player who is less likely to secure a significant payday but still a good bet to receive a qualifying offer, a difference of a few million dollars between potential QOs could have a major impact on how his free agency plays out. That difference may affect how willing a team is to put the qualifying offer on the table and how likely the player is to simply accept it.

With all that in mind, it’s worth checking in on which potential 2025 restricted free agents have actually met the starter criteria so far this season and which ones are on track to do so. The first list is a short one: Bulls guard Josh Giddey is the only player to meet the starter criteria so far.

Giddey had a huge head-start because he made 80 starts for Oklahoma City in 2023/24, meaning he just needed to make two starts this season in order to achieve an average of 41 for the past two seasons. He made his second start for the Bulls way back on October 25, which means his qualifying offer this summer will be $11,142,057 instead of dropping to $7,976,830.

None of the 10 other potential restricted free agents have met the starter criteria though. Of those players, the following three were lottery picks, with their default qualifying offers noted in parentheses:

Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors ($10,240,287)
Davion Mitchell, Heat ($8,741,210)
Ziaire Williams, Nets ($8,353,153)

Kuminga has only started 10 games this season and will fall short of the starter criteria, which will bump his QO down to $7,976,830. Mitchell and Williams still have a chance to get there though — Mitchell has 28 starts under his belt, while Williams has 26. They both need to reach 41 to achieve the starter criteria, and they’ve been regular starters for their respective teams as of late. If they hang onto their starting jobs and stay healthy, they’ll surpass 41 starts.

Again, Kuminga’s free agency is unlikely to be affected by his smaller qualifying offer, since his offer will likely just serve as a placeholder and a last-resort fallback option. Maybe the Nets will be slightly less inclined to give Williams a qualifying offer if it’s worth $8.35MM instead of $7.98MM, but that’s such a small gap that it’s unlikely to affect the team’s QO decision either way. The same goes for Mitchell and the Heat.

The other seven players on expiring contracts who are eligible for restricted free agency are Cam Thomas (Nets), Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), Tre Mann (Hornets), Isaiah Jackson (Pacers), Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets), and Jabari Walker (Trail Blazers). Jaden Springer, Chris Duarte, and Bones Hyland were also part of this group before being waived this month.

Of those players, only Thomas has a realistic chance of meeting the starter criteria. He started 51 games last season, which means he needs to get to 31 this season. He’s at 17 and the Nets have 25 left to play. If Thomas can return from his hamstring strain relatively soon, which seems likely, he has a good shot at starting 14 games and reaching the necessary threshold. That would increase his QO from $5,993,172 to $8,741,210.

The others will remain eligible for their standard QOs, based on draft position (or their prior salary, in Walker’s case), as follows:

Tre Mann, Hornets ($6,964,982)
Isaiah Jackson, Pacers ($6,422,431)
Quentin Grimes, Sixers ($6,311,825)
Day’Ron Sharpe, Nets ($5,983,683)
Santi Aldama, Grizzlies ($5,940,797)
Jabari Walker, Trail Blazers ($2,524,624)

Nets Notes: Thomas, Martin, Hayes, Russell

February 20th, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Nets guard Cam Thomas hasn’t played since January 2, but he’s nearing a return that’s sure to help boost Brooklyn and allay their shooting woes, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Thomas was expected to play in five-on-five scrimmages on Thursday.

“We know (what) he does offensively so, there’s no question. 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,” Trendon Watford said.

Watford went on to say Thomas is the best pure bucket-getter he has ever played with. In 19 games this season (17 starts), the fourth-year wing has averaged 24.7 points per game while shooting 44.8% from the floor and 37.5% from three.

“It’s always a process, but I just see it as a positive. He was so impactful and so good for the group, and I always see it as a positive,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We’ve had so many different lineups, and when you bring somebody as talented as he is, it’s just positive … we just know he’s going to make us better.”

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The Nets converted Tyrese Martin to a standard contract this week. According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link), the Nets signed Martin to a two-year, $2.83MM contract. That deal includes a team option for the 2025/26 season and a rest-of-season salary that’s slightly above the minimum. Brooklyn used a small portion of its mid-level exception to complete the signing.
Brooklyn also added guard Killian Hayes to its roster by signing him to a 10-day contract. He suited up for the team on Thursday, recording five points and three assists. Before the game, coach Jordi Fernandez commented on the signing, per Lewis (Twitter link). “Having a traditional backup point guard is good for us,” he said. “This 10 days is important not just for him but also for us if he can do the things we’re asking him to do. But we know who he is; thats the reason we brought him in the first place.” Fernandez coached Hayes in training camp before he was waived and began the year in the G League.
Point guard D’Angelo Russell exited Thursday’s game against the Cavaliers and was later ruled out due to a left ankle sprain, as relayed by Andscape’s Marc J. Spears (Twitter link). It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss due to the injury. Prior to the game, Cavs head coach and former Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson called Russell a star and was complimentary of the veteran, according to Lewis (Twitter link). “He must be in the perfect place now,” Atkinson said. “He’s seen it all. He’s at that age where I assume he’s the alpha in that locker room. I’m a big fan of the player, big fan of the leader, big fan of the person.“

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