By trading Mikal Bridges to their crosstown rivals, the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets effectively put a “For Sale” sign on their roster.
Do you, an NBA GM, want a two-way combo forward with playoff experience? Dorrian Finney-Smith is for you. How about a sharp-shooting wing that still has room to grow? Cam Johnson can fit that bill, too. A savvy point guard? Dennis Schröder is available, as is Ben Simmons if someone wants to give the former Philadelphia 76ers draftee a try on an expiring contract.
And yet, there is one player on the Nets who probably isn't for sale, at least not anymore. That player is 2019 second-round pick Nic Claxton, who just agreed to a four-year, $100 million deal.
A true success story of the Nets pre-Super Team homegrown era, Claxton was initially drafted to be a backup for Jarrett Allen but rapidly stepped into his shoes when the former Longhorn was traded to Cleveland back in 2021, starting roughly half of the games he appeared in in 2021-22 and then all of the games he appeared in from 2022-24 as the team's new starting five.
Though Claxton isn't a prototypical stretch five, having made just three of the 19 attempts he's taken from beyond the arc, he's as prototypical as they come on the defensive side of the ball, with an ability to protect the rim against even the toughest of foes while also being able to switch across multiple positions when stuck out on the wings.
Now granted, could Claxton still end up getting traded to another team before the end of his four-year contract? Sure, there was interest in Claxton earlier this year, and if things go really wrong in Brooklyn, or they end up with a top-tier center in the draft, he could be on the block once more. Still, for now, Claxton is basically the face of one of the weirder rosters in the NBA today, and retaining him on such a good-value contract is something the Nets should be proud of.
Nic Claxton was the Brooklyn Nets' priority in free agency
Discussing the prospects of Claxton's free agency with the New York Post, new head coach Jordi Fernandez called bringing back the Georgia product a priority, as he fits just about everything the team looks for in a high-upside player.
“I mean, he was our priority this summer. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do, obviously age-wise, and how he’s progressed all these years,” new coach Jordi Fernandez said.
“And we — me personally, and the organization — believe that he’s still getting much better. [He can win] Defensive Player of the Year. He’s a good playmaker, he can be even a better playmaker. We’re excited about his development. We’re excited that he’s part of the organization for a long time.”
GM Sean Marks was asked for comment on Claxton's free agency too, and let it be known that he is incredibly proud of everything the young center has done during his tenure in Brooklyn so far and hopes to keep watching him develop into the future.
“Very important. I give Nic a heck of a lot of credit for seeing the next steps he’s taken year-by-year with his game. It’s great to find a guy in college, and I give our draft process a lot of credit. [Senior director of college scouting and player evaluation] BJ Johnson has run that for the last few years, did a heck of a job in evaluating and finding Nic and being able to draft Nic where we did,” Marks added.
“And now keep him over the course of these last couple of years’ development that not only Nic has participated in but with our coaching staff. So it’s great to have homegrown talent here. Nic fits in a variety [of] different pathways we want to go. He’s young, he’s still scratching the surface here, and I just love his overall approach to him wanting more and more and more development. So now, with some of the changes to our roster, I think we’ll see even more from Nic as we move forward.”
As a rookie, Claxton really wasn't much to write home about as a deep reserve center who only appeared in 15 games and averaged just 4.4. points in 12.5 minutes of action a night. To see where he is now, only five years later, darn-near averaging a double-double while being in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year as an uber-efficient interior scorer, is something to celebrate and invest further resources into cultivating into the future.
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