2022-23 Brooklyn Nets player grades: Nic Claxton
The 2022-23 season was an interesting one for the Brooklyn Nets. In a season that started with championship expectations, the Nets’ season ended with just trying to hold on to a playoff spot after trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to end the superstar experiment once and for all.
At one point, Brooklyn was regarded as one of the main contenders in the Eastern Conference with Durant and Irving leading the way. Once the trade deadline came and went, the Nets had a completely different team led by budding star wing Mikal Bridges.
Not to mention, Brooklyn went through a coaching change after Steve Nash was fired following a 2-5 start to this season. Jacque Vaughn is now the head man of a team that is currently in flux thanks to the trades of Durant and Irving. While the offseason is still fresh, it’s a good time to review all of the Nets who played this season starting with: center Nic Claxton.
(All stats are courtesy of basketball-reference.com)
2022-23 Stats:
12.6 PPG
9.2 RPG
2.5 BPG
1.9 APG
70.5% field-goal shooting
54.1% free-throw shooting
Advanced Stats:
20.8 PER
69.1% true-shooting
15.4% usage rate
9.2 win shares (5.2 offensive win shares and 4.0 defensive win shares)
2.9 VORP
2022-23 Achievements:
16th in the NBA in rebounds per game
2nd in blocks per game
1st in field-goal percentage
9th in win shares
4th in defensive win shares
6th in defensive rating (108.3)
Contract:
2023-24: $8.75 million
Takeaways:
Claxton had an incredible 2022-23 season as he improved in almost every facet of his game. Even though he was always a capable defender when he was selected 31st overall in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Georgia, Claxton took his defensive game to new heights this past season.
After averaging just 1.1 blocks per game during the 2021-22 season, Claxton blocked 2.5 shots per game this season and at one point, he was close to 3.0 blocks per game before slowing down after the trade deadline due to playing with a completely new starting lineup and having his minutes catch up to him.
To make his defense even more impressive, out of 76 games played, Claxton played only six games where he did not record a block. He had five separate occasions where he blocked at least five shots and blocked at least three shots in 36 games. Claxton did a wonderful job of protecting the rim and he improved his defense on the perimeter to an effective level for a big man.
Claxton also took his offensive game to a new level and even though it doesn’t show in the stats, he improved his offensive game by leaps and bounds. The 6’11”, 215 LB center from Greenville, South Carolina, and son of former NBA player Charles Claxton, has always been good around the rim, but he also showed an ability to put the ball on the floor and make plays:
https://youtube.com/shorts/Qmr9T7R_C8w?feature=share
Claxton also showed a soft touch around the rim with regards to his post-ups and while he doesn’t have a series of moves on the low-block just yet, he showed that you can dump the ball down to him and have success. He shot his highest percentage from the field overall and shot a career-high 51.1% on shots taken between three feet and 10 feet from the rim.
Claxton proved himself to be a core part of the Nets whether the team choose to go all-in on trying to win a championship or going into a full rebuild. With how much Claxton improved this season, it will be interesting to see what leap he can see take next season.
Final grade: A+
