Following Kyrie Irving’s request for a trade just over a week ago, former LSU standout Cam Thomas took full advantage of the star’s absence, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to score over 40 points in three consecutive games.
He became one of the biggest NBA talking points this week and appears to be one of the centerpieces of the next era of Brooklyn Nets basketball.
Though he has been the only recent LSU draftee to receive this much mainstream attention, there are a few other players from the Will Wade era that have progressed and prospered since joining the league. In this article, I’ll discuss those players, their roles and impacts on both LSU and their current team and their best traits and improvements so far.
Cam Thomas
This article wouldn’t be complete without talking about who inspired it.
From the beginning of his LSU career, Cam Thomas had high expectations, coming in as a five-star prospect and one of the best shooting guards in the country according to 247sports. And after scoring 27 points on decent efficiency in his debut, the hype surrounding the guard would only continue to grow.
He attributed his season-high just six games later in a considerable 32-point outing against Texas A&M and ultimately finished the season as the fourth highest scorer in the country with 23 points per game.
His success in his lone season with the Tigers led to him being drafted late in the first round by the Nets in 2021. And though he was drafted to a super team featuring Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving on its roster, he did everything he could to get noticed.
He was named Co-MVP of the 2021 Summer League, averaging 27 points per game on 42.3% shooting from the field and 36.3% from behind the arc. His minutes were inconsistent through the first couple weeks of the regular season, but each time one of the team’s stars missed time, he took advantage of the opportunity.
In February of 2022, James Harden got traded to Philadelphia and Kevin Durant missed time with injury, which allowed Thomas to briefly show what he could do with starter-caliber minutes. In the eight-game span following Harden’s trade, Thomas averaged over 21 points per game on incredible shooting splits.
Though his minutes dropped once Durant returned, he rarely missed a chance to prove himself.
In the 2022-23 season, when eight starters including Irving and Durant were ruled out in a matchup against the Pacers back in December, Thomas not only led the team in scoring, but he also guided the team to an unexpected victory. Twenty-one of his then career-high 33 points came in the fourth quarter, and being that the Nets only won by three, every single one of those points was necessary.
That career-high would get trumped just a few months later, as he again guided the Nets to victory with a 44-point showing against the Wizards. One game later, it was surpassed again.
Now, as a 21-year-old in his second year in the NBA, Thomas is a prominent starter with unlimited potential on the offensive end.
Naz Reid
Reid currently ranks as the program’s seventh best all-time recruits according to 247sports, entering the 2018-19 season as the fourth best power forward in the country.
Like Thomas, he showed what he could do very early on in the season, putting up 29 points with a field-goal percentage of 78.6% in just his second game against UNC Greensboro. He still wouldn’t come close to Thomas’s scoring average, but through conference play, he was consistently dependable, putting up more than 10 points in 12 of the team’s 17 SEC matchups he was featured in.
Reid finished the season as LSU’s top rebounder and second-leading scorer, scoring 13.6 points and grabbing 7.2 rebounds per game. He headlined the best team of the Will Wade era, a team which won the SEC regular-season title and made it to the Sweet Sixteen in March Madness.
He’d declare for the NBA Draft following the season, going undrafted before signing a two-way contract with the Timberwolves. After spending some time playing with their G League affiliate, Reid made his NBA debut in December, and when Minnesota became shorthanded in late December, he’d experience his first uptick in playing time.
He put up 13 points on less-than-stellar efficiency and maintained his heightened role until Karl Anthony Towns returned, consistently scoring in double figures and having success on the boards, despite standing at 6-foot-8. Towns went down again in February and as an undrafted rookie, Reid would make his first career start against the Celtics, attributing 19 points and nine rebounds on decent shooting splits from all points of the floor.
Since then, he’s maintained a solid role with the Timberwolves, even with the team acquiring Rudy Gobert in July 2022. While his numbers aren’t improving considerably, that’s more due to the team’s depth at big man rather than lack of improvement. Whenever he has received considerable playing time this season, he’s shown he’s capable of taking on a bigger role, evident by 28 and 27-point performances against Oklahoma City and Dallas back in December.
Tari Eason
Heading into the 2021-22 season, Cincinnati transfer Tari Eason was expected to be impactful, but mostly on defense. He averaged just over seven points per game with the Bearcats and didn’t have much of a three-point shot.
But through the first few games, that outlook started to change. Even when the schedule started to become more difficult, Eason consistently led the Tigers in scoring and played a large role in their undefeated start, especially in their win over then No. 18 Tennessee, where he put up 24 points on 56.3% shooting from the field.
The team would ultimately get bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but Eason had done more than enough to garner attention from the league. His stats were considerable, as he attributed 16.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 52% from the field and 36% from three, and that proficiency led to him being drafted midway through the first round of the NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets.
Like Cam Thomas, Eason balled out during Summer League, averaging 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals through four games and making the All- Summer League First Team. And while his regular seasons don’t jump off the page, they do show a lot of potential.
On an average of just under 17 minutes, Eason is averaging 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game on 44.2% shooting from the field and 35.2% from three. While his scoring hasn’t progressed much throughout the season, he’s already seen rises in his rebounding and shooting percentages, as he’s gone from averaging 4.8 rebounds and shooting 41.8% from the field in November to 6.1 rebounds and 46.3% in January.
His playing time has consistently shifted throughout the season, but he’s had ample opportunity to show what he can do and has flourished, progressing by the month. His best stint of games came just a few weeks ago, when the rookie attributed three straight double doubles, capped off with a 20-point and 13-rebound performance against Oklahoma State to kick off February.
