Why the Warriors’ Cam Thomas assignment is a matchup to watch against the Nets – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

As the Brooklyn Nets head to Chase Center on Monday, the Warriors must ask themselves one question above all else: Do we have what it takes to stop perhaps the NBA’s most dangerous secret weapon?

Cam Thomas is not an All-Star. The muscular 1.90 meter tall shooting guard is not mentioned in the same breath as Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell or Devin Booker. Still, Thomas scores higher than those stars, averaging 24.8 points per game.

There will be games where the Warriors will greatly miss De’Anthony Melton as the first man to face an elite scoring guard. His absence means coach Steve Kerr will have to rely on a rotating cast of defenders.

Will coach Kerr start with Lindy Waters III, who has started alongside Curry in the five games since Melton’s loss? Or will the coach turn to the troublesome Gary Payton II? His only two starts came against Washington’s Jordan Poole, a former teammate, and in the Cleveland backfield with Darius Garland and Mitchell.

Or will Kerr call in Andrew Wiggins and put someone else in charge of 6-foot-1 small forward Cameron Johnson, one of the league’s best 3-point shooters and Brooklyn’s second-leading scorer?

Johnson is averaging 19.1 points per game, shooting 42.6 percent from distance and has had success in the last four games: 22 of 38 (57.9 percent) shooting from distance.

But Thomas is shooting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc this season, including an impressive 21 of 41 (51.2 percent) in his last six games. He fueled the Kings with 34 points on Sunday – his sixth game this season with at least 30 – as the Nets won in Sacramento.

What makes Thomas particularly dangerous is his ability to score at all three levels, the range to knock down triples, the touch to punish opponents from mid-range, and the power to shoot into the paint and to the rim to reach. He is very similar to the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, but with superior size.

Thomas’ physicality is why Kerr would consider either Payton or Wiggins – two of Golden State’s best pure athletes – as a starting man.

The Warriors have seen some dynamic guards this season, but none with the combination of Thomas’ skills. They believe in their strength and will need it because slowing him down is the key to winning against the injury-plagued Nets.

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