For most of his Milwaukee Bucks debut, Cam Thomas looked out of place. Considering he signed with the team Sunday afternoon and was on the court against the Orlando Magic around 24 hours later, that's not surprising. While he has the tools to help this team, it's going to take Thomas time to find his footing before he makes a legitimate impact on the basketball court.
Thomas gets his feet wet in Milwaukee Bucks debut
Thomas logged 13 minutes in Milwaukee's loss to Orlando, and it went far from smoothly. He shot just 1-of-5 from the field, doing his best to try to uplift the offense. Though he did sink two free throws to give him four points total, he struggled to provide a needed spark. He also finished with an assist and a rebound off the bench.
Still, he largely looked lost. He sort of just moved around, going with the flow. Mike Budenholzer used to tell his players to "play random." That's exactly what Thomas was doing in this one. He didn't have a clue where Ryan Rollins liked to be, how Jericho Sims liked his lob passes, or when Myles Turner was ready to fire a long-ball.
Even if Thomas' primary objective is to simply score the basketball, that's far easier said than done when being dropped off into a new environment.
None of that should come as a surprise. Thomas, still just 24, was playing on a new team for the first time in his NBA career. It's not like he had an entire summer to prepare for it, either. Once he was let go by Brooklyn, he signed with Milwaukee quickly and was ready to roll. While he's motivated, clearly, no one should have expected him to come firing right out of the gates.
As he gets legitimate practice time under his belt, Thomas should get more accustomed to playing with his new teammates and under Doc Rivers. He will learn the schemes and how to play off others far better. Once he gets going and finds his footing, Thomas can legitimately help this team with his electric scoring off the bench, something this team desperately needs down the stretch.
Thomas and the Milwaukee Bucks will have another crack at the Magic on Wednesday night, and the hope is that a little more time with the team can help the guard get going.
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