Go ahead and throw out all previous summer prognostications about the top of the Eastern Conference in 2022-23. Kevin Durant is recommitted to the Brooklyn Nets, guaranteeing his rebuilt team top-tier contender status after an offseason fraught with headline-grabbing drama.
As long as Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons and the revamped Nets can move past the summer and coalesce off the court, there's no reason to believe they won't find major success on it. Third-year big man Nic Claxton responded to news of Durant's rescinded trade request by echoing that sentiment.
“It’s exciting knowing he's coming back on board with us,” he said of Durant, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “I know we can have a really, really good group. So we’ve just got to get everybody together and lock in.”
Nic Claxton on Kevin Durant staying with the #Nets: “It’s exciting knowing he's coming back on board with us. I know we can have a really, really good group. So we’ve just got to get everybody together and lock in.” #nba pic.twitter.com/0TGGVNDvg1
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) August 23, 2022
Claxton is poised to play a significant role for the Nets this season.
The 31st overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, he notched career-highs across the board in 2021-22, starting 19 games and averaging 8.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Illness and minor injuries limited him to 47 games, though, and Claxton wasn't quite the hyper-mobile, explosive defensive presence he was during a breakout sophomore campaign.
He's a tricky fit next to Simmons considering neither has any proven ability to score outside the paint, and shares the former Philadelphia 76ers star's struggles from the free throw line. But Claxton's all-court defensive potential looms large for Brooklyn, as does the imminent threat he poses as a pick-and-roll dive man and lob-catcher.
Make no mistake, though. The Nets' championship odds are tied directly to Durant, and he's apparently as ready as ever to win a title in Brooklyn.
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