The Brooklyn Nets will begin the second half of the season without their starting center. Nic Claxton sprained his right ankle during practice on Wednesday. Brooklyn ruled him out for Thursday's road matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Claxton has put together one of the best statistical seasons of his career following an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign. The longest-tenured Net has averaged 12.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 blocks on 59.0 percent shooting across 50 appearances.
Brooklyn did assign a grade to Claxton's ankle sprain, but his absence on Thursday is notable for a team entrenched in the NBA's tank race. With the Nets battling for draft position, they should be in no rush to bring Claxton back from his injury.
Nic Claxton sidelined for Nets after suffering ankle injury during practice
Brooklyn begins the second half of the season in fifth place in the draft lottery standings, one game behind the Washington Wizards in second and 1.5 ahead of the Utah Jazz in sixth. Several teams competing with the Nets at the bottom of the standings recently shut down top players.
The Sacramento Kings ruled out Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine for the season, and the Utah Jazz shut down Jaren Jackson Jr. Meanwhile, Trae Young and Anthony Davis are sidelined indefinitely for the Washington Wizards. The same goes for Ivica Zubac with the Indiana Pacers.
The Nets face a difficult upcoming schedule, with 12 of their next 17 games coming against teams with winning records. They have the NBA's sixth-toughest remaining strength of schedule overall.
Day'Ron Sharpe will step in as Brooklyn's starting center with Claxton sidelined. Sharpe has continued to look like one of the NBA's top backup centers this season, averaging 8.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals on 61.1 percent shooting in 18.5 minutes per game.
Danny Wolf and Noah Clowney should see time at center with the Nets' second unit during Claxton's absence.
