Despite getting swept out of the playoffs in the first round, the Nets are convinced they have at least the raw materials of a top defensive team.
And, finally healthy for a whole season, Nic Claxton is the anchor of that defense.
The emerging 24-year-old was one of the NBA’s most improved players and one of its better defenders, thanks to the work he put in on his body last summer.
It’s a lesson he’ll take into this all-too-early offseason — along with raised expectations of becoming one of the league’s elite centers.
“Definitely,” Claxton said. “This year, I kind of kicked the door down, just showed everybody that I’m here, put my name on the map. But now it’s just about consistency and taking it to another level. My expectations, they do go up, and I’m expecting a lot out of myself. But at the end of the day, that’s where you get in the gym and just put the work in. All of that stuff will take care of itself.”
Turns out all Claxton had to do to put himself on the map was stay on the court.
Playing 76 games — all starts — the oft-injured Claxton logged more minutes this season than he did in his first three combined. That will serve as fuel this summer to work on his weaknesses, packing some more pounds on his spindly 6-foot-11, 215-pound frame and improving his shaky 54.1 percent free-throw shooting.
“The biggest piece going forward, I will say, just staying healthy, just being available, being out there getting reps,” Claxton said. “Availability is the best ability when I’m out there. Seemed to show that I’m going to grow.
“Just things that I want to focus on, definitely getting stronger. Adding some good muscle, that’s big for me. That’s going to help my overall game. Continue to work on my free-throw shooting. Just expanding my game, whether it’s maybe shooting a little more, and just continuing to thrive in the areas that I do.”
Claxton averaged 12.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks — all career-highs — and shot a league-leading 70.5 percent from the floor. Those numbers don’t fully encapsulate what he did to anchor Brooklyn’s defense, but his growth hasn’t gone unappreciated by Nets GM Sean Marks.
“I would’ve loved to have had an entire year, an entire season of looking at what this group could look like. But at the end of the day, there was some real bright spots here,” said Marks, who gave Claxton a two-year, $17.2 million deal last summer. “We saw players take their games to new heights. We saw players that maybe we didn’t expect to have the type of roles ahead really exceed them.
“I talked to Nic Claxton, and he’s ready for another big offseason because he saw the benefits of what he did last offseason. I’m obviously biased, but he should be in the running for the Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year. He should be running for a lot of things. I mean, I’m really proud of what Nic accomplished, and that started this time last year.”
In the end, Claxton finished fifth in Most Improved Player, right behind teammate Mikal Bridges. He was second in the league in blocks, fourth in Defensive Win Shares (4.0) and sixth in Defensive Rating (108.3).
Bridges was runner-up for last season’s Defensive Player of the Year, and Claxton finished 10th this season. Even if Ben Simmons (runner-up in 2021) never regains his old form, the Nets are convinced a healthy Claxton can anchor a stout unit.
“If this core stays together next year, I do think we can be an elite defensive team,” Cam Johnson said. “I think you got guys like Claxton, guys like Royce [O’Neale], Do [Dorian Finney-Smith], me, Mikal, Spencer [Dinwiddie], guys that can guard. And Claxton’s a big part of that, the way he guards the ball, the way he protects the rim.”