As part of the new CBA, NBA teams are allowed to begin negotiations with their own free agents immediately following the NBA Finals. Some deals have been agreed to already with the latest being the Brooklyn Nets reaching an agreement to re-sign center Nic Claxton in NBA free agency as per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Claxton was in line to become one of the top free agent big men on the open market. As per Wojnarowski, his new deal will be for four years and worth $100 million.
The NBA Draft is barely here but the Nets have been one of the most active teams in the offseason so far. Coming to terms with Nic Claxton in NBA Free agency is right on the heels of a blockbuster trade the Nets made in sending Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks.
If Claxton and the Nets had not reached an agreement, he would have hit unrestricted free agency this coming weekend. The fifth-year big man is one of the most promising young centers in the league and would have no doubt drawn plenty of interest on the free agent market.
Claxton had a solid season last year. He appeared in 71 games for the Nets at a little over 29 minutes per game. He averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.1 blocked shots with splits of 62.9 percent shooting from the field and 55.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Nets are ushering in a new era
While the Nets trading Mikal Bridges signals a pivot towards a rebuild, re-signing Nic Claxton doesn't alter those plans at all. Claxton is young enough in that he is part of the Nets future.
Earlier this week, the Nets received word that Keita Bates-Diop was opting in to his contract for next and bypassing free agency. The Nets have a few other free agents but none were as key as Claxton was. The Nets are beginning a new era with new head coach Jordi Fernandez who spoke highly of Claxton during his introductory press conference.
Fernandez will take the helm for the 2024-25 season as a first-time head coach. Fernandez spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. He got his first start in the NBA during the 2009-2010 season as an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also has an assistant coaching stint with the Denver Nuggets.
The Nets set themselves up nicely for the future with the trade they made with the Knicks. In exchange for Mikal Bridges, the Nets received four unprotected first round picks. In a separate trade with the Houston Rockets, the Nets got back their first round picks they had originally sent to the Rockets when acquiring James Harden.
The Nets also received Bojan Bogdanovic in the trade with the Knicks. Last season the Nets missed out on the playoffs snapping a streak of five consecutive postseason appearances. The Nets had championship aspirations not too long ago when they formed a Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. The trio was unable to form on-court chemistry though and all three have since been traded.
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