NBA DRAFT

July 29, 2021

Cameron Thomas

THE MODERATOR: If you'd just give us an opening statement about what you'll bring to your new team, please.

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, I'm here to bring a great attitude, being a great teammate, scoring power, just an all-around player. Scoring power, playmaking, defense, rebounding -- whatever the team needs, I'm bringing that. I feel like Brooklyn made a really good choice picking me.

Q. Can you take us through the process with the Nets throughout the draft process? Did you work out with them? Did you meet with them? Did you think they really liked you?

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, I had a workout with them very early in the process. They loved me and I loved their vibe. I felt like everything was in place. I kind of like loved them from the get-go with just that one workout I had with them. And later on we had an interview -- like a week ago we had an interview. I just felt like it was just a match made in heaven. All our personalities connected.

And with me watching them so much this year, with James Harden being my favorite player, me watching Kyrie, how skilled he is, and KD, I feel like with me coming in and learning from those guys, scoring the ball-wise, it's a match made in heaven. I can't wait to play with some of my favorite players. It's crazy.

Q. Obviously you've been known as a scorer throughout your career and now you're playing with three of the best scorers of their generation. How do you look at that adjustment, going from being the guy to kind of fitting in with those three?

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, hoopers figure it out, man. You can never have too much scoring. I feel like all four of us are hoopers, so we're all going to figure it out eventually. I'm going to get my shots, and of course they're going to get their shots. So I feel like I've got to make the most of them because they're going to get them. I've just got to come in with a great mindset. I'm actually so happy that I'm here actually. I feel like it's a great pick.

Q. How do you see yourself fitting in with Kevin and Kyrie and James Harden, your favorite player?

CAMERON THOMAS: Yeah, I can just play on the ball if I need to, iso, off ball, running off screens, catch and shoot, anything, playmaking for those guys, getting them the ball. I just feel like I'm just so complete offensively and an all-around player that coming in I can make an immediate impact with those guys and we can do some great things.

Q. I know you said that you are excited to play with your favorite players. Tell me, what players are you looking forward to going against this NBA season?

CAMERON THOMAS: Honestly, just probably Devin Booker. He's my other favorite player in the league. Really my favorite players are on Brooklyn, so just being able to play with them is just surreal. But Devin Booker is probably the player who I want to go against who's my favorite player outside of Brooklyn.

Q. You are a prolific scorer, averaging 23 points a game. Are there any players from the era before that you grew up watching? Who was your first player that you saw put the ball in the basket and you said, wow, I want to be able to do that?

CAMERON THOMAS: Kobe, for sure. Really Kobe everything. I tried to imitate him. Tried to imitate everything about him -- his mindset, the way he shot jump shots, his mannerisms, all that, the way he passed the ball. I tried to imitate everything Kobe did. Kobe was my first inspiration to basketball.

Q. Do you believe that you were selected by the Nets because of your defense or your offensive prowess?

CAMERON THOMAS: I don't know. I just feel like they picked me because they saw a good player on the board. So I feel like they just picked me for that reason.

Q. You were the last player in the green room. Were you getting nervous as you saw other guys go and you didn't hear your name called, or you were pretty steady throughout the whole thing?

CAMERON THOMAS: I was pretty steady because I felt like the team I was going to is a championship-level team. We're going to be winning games. We're going to be playing for something. I feel like that is really going to help me out in my rookie year, to have all that experience, all the experience in the game.

I was just pretty steady because I knew I was going to a great situation.

Q. Do you have any preexisting relationships with anyone on the team?

CAMERON THOMAS: No, not really. I think Kyrie came and spoke at one of the camps I was at. I forget which camp it was. That's probably the only thing I have with him. With me being on the team now, I can really pick those guys' brains and pick everybody's brain about their rookie year and how -- just different ways of anything. I can't wait to get to work with those guys.