The days of paying a ton of money for score-first guard archetypes could be quickly fizzling out, as 2025 RFA Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets reached an agreement to return on a $6 million qualifying offer with a no-trade clause. This setup will allow him to hit unrestricted free agency next offseason.
But sadly for Thomas, I’d say this saga clearly indicates that teams are no longer willing to take a high-cost gamble on a player of his level, even if other deals (I'll get to the specific one in a minute) effectively destroyed the RFA market.