It's officially tanking season for a good chunk of the NBA's non-competitive teams. Some tanking teams simply want to boost their odds to secure a top-five pick, like the Sacramento Kings are doing. Other teams, such as the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards are looking to keep top-eight protected picks that would otherwise convey to winning ballclubs. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets are still searching for the player they'll be building around for the foreseeable future.
This is why there should be no surprise that the Nets will be occasionally resting some of their best players from here on out. On Wednesday night, the Nets could possibly hold Nic Claxton out of action because, as ClutchPoints Nets beat reporter Erik Slater pointed out, their starting center has been downgraded to questionable for tomorrow night against the Indiana Pacers due to right hip soreness.
Claxton has missed just two games for the Nets previously, but him being healthy gives Brooklyn a better chance of winning. During his last game, which was against the Bulls, he put up a monster 28-10 double-double in a 123-115 win for Brooklyn.
The Nets currently just have the fifth-worst record in the NBA, so they have their work cut out for them if they want to secure even better odds for the number one pick for this year's draft.
How do the Nets approach potential Nic Claxton-less game?
The Nets will already be without Michael Porter Jr. for tomorrow night's contest, so this has indeed devolved into a full-blown tanking affair between Brooklyn and Indiana.
With Claxton potentially joining Porter on the mend, the Nets will have to rely on Day'Ron Sharpe to fill in at center if their starting big man does indeed need to miss time. Danny Wolf will also be tasked to play more center minutes.
