Cam Thomas' 34-point night in his second game with the Milwaukee Bucks had many people talking, including Doc Rivers. Following the game, Rivers was full of praise, even comparing the guard to two players he knows all too well. "I’ve had Jamal Crawford. I had Lou Williams...And now, I have Cam Thomas," is what Rivers told reporters after Milwaukee's thrilling win.
Doc Rivers truly knows how to get the best out of sixth men
As a player coming off the bench, one of the highest honors possible is being mentioned in the same breath as Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams. Combined, those two possess six Sixth Man of the Year nods, with four of them coming under Doc Rivers. When talking about the best reserves ever, those two are staples in any conversation.
Cam Thomas isn't there quite yet (this was just his second game with the Milwaukee Bucks), but he undeniably has the potential to be a red-hot force off the bench any given night. When the starters are struggling mightily or, in Milwaukee's case, banged up beyond belief, having a go-to guy off the bench is essential, as Thomas showed Wednesday night.
Thomas effortlessly elevated Milwaukee's second unit against the Magic. Through tough buckets inside to 3-pointers all the way from Epcot, the guard found unheard-of ways to put the ball in the basket. In just 25 minutes, he poured in 34 points. He earned every bit of praise that Doc Rivers and Bucks fans alike are pouring on him.
Moving forward, the biggest X-factor with Thomas will be his efficiency. In this game, he was stellar, sinking 12 of his 20 shot attempts (60 percent), including going 4-of-6 from deep. That's a different strasosphere compared to the numbers he was putting up with the Brooklyn Nets prior to joining the Milwaukee Bucks. If he can keep doing this efficiently, the sky's the limit for Thomas.
If there is someone who might know how to coach a player like Thomas, it would be Doc Rivers, who has plenty of experience working with smaller, score-first bench guards. Moving forward, the guard should be the first name called off Milwaukee's bench. With their playoff hopes on life support, he could be the Bucks' ultimate needle-mover, given how poor their offense has been this year.
It's still incredibly early, of course, but it sure looks like the Milwaukee Bucks might have found the ultimate hidden gem of transaction season.
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