A new era is dawning in Brooklyn, though the quality of that era is very much still an unknown. The Nets' Irving-Harden-Durant experiment fell apart as quickly as it came together, with Irving now seemingly comfortable – for the time being – in Dallas, Harden not comfortable anywhere and Durant on another super team.

That leaves them with a roster heading into the 2023-24 season which looks nothing like the one they entered last season with. From a talent perspective it's a hell of a long way behind what they've had over the past couple of years, but it's nonetheless an intriguing collection of players who could feasibly form a pretty good team if it all comes together.

The successful return of Ben Simmons would certainly help, aided by the impressive Mikal Bridges, the continued development of Nic Claxton, and plenty of depth, highlighted by the likes of Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale, both of whom will potentially come off the bench. But like so many teams, some added scoring punch would be a welcome addition to this Nets roster, and there is one man who is very, very capable of providing them with that if given the opportunity.

Cam Thomas

Nets, Cam Thomas

In his two seasons in the NBA, Cam Thomas hasn't exactly put together numbers that jump off the page. In his first season he averaged 8.5 points on 43.3% shooting in around 17 minutes, while last year that jumped up slightly to 10.6 points on 44.1% shooting with similar minutes. But those numbers mask the prodigious capability of this man.

Who could forget the extraordinary run of scoring he put together in February of last season? After a topsy turvy first few months of the season which included a few games in which his microwave scoring ability was evident, and plenty of others in which he only played a handful of minutes, he exploded against the Wizards with 44 points in 29 minutes on 16-23 shooting. As if to prove it wasn't a fluke, two days later, he played 38 minutes and scored 47. Sure enough, he did it again the very next day, putting up 43 points against the Suns to round out a truly extraordinary few days of basketball from a man who had previously just barely been in the rotation.

Unsurprisingly he cooled off thereafter, and with a few Nets returning his spot in that rotation became a little more tenuous. His scoring capacity, however, ensured he remained an ever-present threat, and a 46-point effort in the final game of the regular season once again highlighted his ability. Indicative of his season, however, he subsequently played just 15 minutes in the Nets' four playoff games for six points.

Last season, Thomas was the quintessential all-or-nothing guy, but his good games were unbelievable, and it's worth remembering that he is still just 21 years of age. Thomas is in many ways a one-dimensional player. Not from a scoring perspective – he can do that in basically any way he likes – but he's not going to offer much else, at least in this point in his career.

But that enormous gap between his best and his worst makes him an ideal candidate for a huge breakout year. There is certainly the possibility that he continues this season as he did last, coming off the bench and either failing to immediately contribute and subsequently hardly seeing the floor, or getting a hot hand and looking like the best player on the floor.

But in his third season, the potential for growth is plain to see. Cam Thomas has the potential to be a truly lethal player in the NBA, and if he's given a little more opportunity and can find a way to contribute more consistently, he could be set for a season of enormous growth in 2023-24.