Over the weekend, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers slammed the door shut on the Cam Thomas experiment that started so promising. The guard played just three minutes in Saturday's defeat to the Atlanta Hawks and failed to see the floor in the win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
Water poured on the Cam Thomas flames
It feels like a lifetime ago when Thomas dropped 34 points against the Orlando Magic in his second game in a Bucks jersey. Now, in mid-March, he has found minutes hard to come by and is averaging just 7.4 points in 13.4 minutes this month.
Milwaukee snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday, but they have lost seven of its last 10, and Thomas isn't the only player to have struggled during that run. Rivers has continuously changed the starting lineup and rotation, which doesn't help.
In Rivers' defense, however, very little has worked for the Bucks this season, with the team being very up and down and players lacking any real consistency. Now they are in a situation where certain big minute players have seen their time on court decrease, and the likes of Pete Nance, who is on a two-way, are taking minutes over veterans.
Thomas, as an addition, felt like a welcome one for the Bucks. They desperately needed someone off the bench to bring some scoring punch, particularly with Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined at the time. Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins kept the starting five afloat at first, with Thomas providing that extra offense from the second unit.
Bucks' new strategy likely phases Thomas out
Recently, Rivers spoke about using a bigger lineup, and it made sense given the Bucks' struggles to crash the glass and their interior defense. This, however, has seen Thomas lose the minutes he had, and even AJ Green has now found his way to the bench. Even a starting five with Ousmane Dieng, Kyle Kuzma, Giannis, and Myles Turner has been used. That is taking going big to a different level, showing the dedication.
Things just haven't worked since Giannis' return. The team had been on a decent run and his return to the court felt like a much-needed boost for a team chasing the Play-In. Now, the constant changing of lineups and rotations means there is very little continuity and on-court relationships built, so that most players are struggling. Some of that is down to Rivers, some of it is down to players not performing.
Things haven't worked for the Milwaukee Bucks with their recent rotation changes, so that likely means that Thomas will find his way back in soon. As a signing that had so much promise to begin with, the water has clearly been poured onto the flames, and right now, he is amongst several players who are now fighting for minutes back in the team.