Kevin Ollie endorses Cam Thomas for Most Improved Player but competition is tight

In the latest Vegas odds on the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, Cam Thomas is fifth, behind the Philadelphia 76ers Tyrese Maxey, the Chicago Bulls Coby White, the Toronto Raptors Scottie Barnes and the Houston Rockets Alperen Sengun.

And Thomas will have play all eight of the Brooklyn Nets final games to get to the 65-game floor the NBA imposed on major awards in the new CBA. (Sengun who was thought to be out for the season with an ankle sprain is still unlikely to qualify, having played in 63 games before going down with an ankle sprain but some have suggested he might come back before the regular season ends.)

Still, even with such heavy competition, Thomas has a number of things going for him, most specifically this: He’s averaging 21.9 points a game for the season compared to 10,6 last season. That 11.3 point differential is the biggest in the league this season. There’s also his improved defense and playmaking, although the numbers there aren’t as gaudy as his scoring.

“He should be in there, definitely, just with his body of work,” interim head coach Kevin Ollie said before Thomas poured in a team-high 28 points in Friday’s big win over Chicago. “I know he has a lot of guys he’s competing with as well. But with his body of work, his consistency and him being able to score the ball in the capacity that he’s scoring is always great.”

Thomas himself said earlier this month that he should be in “the conversation” for the award.

“I feel like my name should definitely be in the [Most Improved Player] conversation but what ever happens happens. I’m just worried about getting wins. because we have bigger goals like getting to the playoffs, the play-in. So I feel that’s more important than that,” Thomas told Chris Haynes in a Bleacher Report interview.

“Obviously for the season I had, with what I’ve gone through my first two years until now, just playing sporadically, now getting a full time role a little bit in my third year. Having a jump like this, I feel like that just can’t go unnoticed especially playing on the Nets, it can’t go unnoticed for me.

Since then, of course, Thomas has been on a tear. He’s averaging 26.5 points for the month of March with shooting splits of 48/37/89. He’s also averaging 4.1 assists for the month and 5.1 rebounds, another area of improvement that’s gone a bit unnoticed.

There are other datapoints in Thomas’ favor. For the season, he’s averaging 21.9 points, which is 37th in the NBA this season. Among those who rank above him, only Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero are younger ... and both were the overall No. 1 picks, compared to Thomas who was taken at No. 27.

His biggest issue — other than a now outdated perception that he’s only a scorer — is that the Nets aren’t a playoff team. Of the four players above him in Vegas, only Maxey is sure to make the playoffs. Barnes’ Raptors are out of the post-season while White’s Bulls and Sengun’s Rockets are fighting for 10th and a spot in the play-in.

“But for us to have these guys rewarded we have to win games, too. That goes with it. That’s just how the NBA is. You win, you get more recognition,” Ollie said. “So that’s why we always keep it a team sport, too, because it is a team sport. The better we do as a team, the more recognized we are as individuals.”

• Nets’ Cam Thomas should be considered for Most Improved Player award: Kevin Ollie - Brian Lewis - New York Post
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