Entering this season, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez went out of his way to prop up Nic Claxton as a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate. The homegrown center may still win the award someday, but it certainly won’t be this year.
Claxton was the Nets’ No. 1 priority in free agency last offseason, and they gave him a four-year, $100 million extension. As the team’s longest-tenured player, he was expected to step into a leadership role for the rebuilding franchise and take leaps at both ends of the court in 2024-25.
However, hamstring soreness forced him to miss the entire preseason. Then when healthy enough to return, his play underwhelmed. He was struggling on defense. His offensive production was nothing to brag about. And his effort on the glass left much to be desired.
The most concerning aspect of Claxton’s early-season struggles was his temper. Technical fouls, flagrant fouls and ejections were piling up for a guy who usually did a decent job keeping his emotions in check.
Claxton averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 71 games last season. Through his first 41 games this season, he’s averaging 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks — not terrible stats for an NBA center by any means, but Claxton has already proven he’s capable of better.
That’s why he got paid.
“I don’t really like to make excuses. I just need to be better,” Claxton said. “I just need to be more locked in, that’s all.”
In Claxton’s defense, playing for a tanking team can be wildly frustrating. He’s also been playing through lower back issues that will take a while to clear up. Not to mention the Nets had a serious void at point guard in the games following the Dennis Schröder trade. D’Angelo Russell’s presence has provided some stability in that regard, but he’s been battling injuries of his own.
Then there’s the scheme. Under Fernandez, Claxton has been asked to blitz and trap ball handlers on the perimeter, which is something he didn’t do often last year or at any point in his career. That’s taken some getting used to as well, and mastering these things take time.
“[It’s] different,” Claxton said. “At the end of the day, if we’re blitzing, I just have to do it to the best of my ability.”
Fernandez says Claxton needs to remain patient with himself. Success will eventually come with additional reps in his schemes. He doesn’t want Claxton to just hang out under the rim and wait for opportunities to come to him. He wants his center to disrupt actions all over the court.
“I think that right now his pick-and-roll defense is what we want him to be,” Fernandez said. “Aggressive, using his length and disrupting the basketball. And same thing when he’s the low man or he’s protecting the rim… And as a low man, you can go vertical, you can take charges, and you can block shots. He has to figure out which of the three, but he was great, and we want him to continue to do that and continue to develop from there.”
Claxton has had a stronger January. He averaged 10.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in 15 appearances this month. He did shoot just 51.2% from the field over that span, which highlights his struggles with finishing around the rim.
However, a season-high six blocks in Wednesday’s 104-83 defeat of the Charlotte Hornets gave Claxton hope that better days are ahead. More than anything, it reminded him of how dominant he can be when locked in.
“Yeah, definitely,” Claxton said. “I even spoke to Jordi; I want to be impactful on the defensive side of the ball. And that’s just my challenge, figuring out ways to do that within our defense and just having that consistency on that side of the ball especially.”