B/R: Nets’ Nic Claxton and Mikal Bridges among biggest breakout players
The Brooklyn Nets have two of the biggest breakout players this season, according to an article by Bleacher Report on Sunday. Those players are center Nic Claxton and wing Mikal Bridges. The ironic thing is, Claxton broke out for Brooklyn all season long while Bridges began his breakout with the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Nets in the Kevin Durant trade.
Either way, both players have been incredible for Brooklyn this season and they’re only getting better with each game. Claxton has made leaps and bounds in his game as he has been a dominating presence on the defensive end and he has shown his improvement in his offensive game by showcasing his improved touch around the rim and ability to put the ball on the floor too.
Bridges is doing for the Nets what he was doing for the Suns, but better because of how involved he is offensively for Brooklyn. The former Villanova Wildcat is showing that he can be a primary scorer within an offense as he has been scoring the ball in an efficient manner. With that being said, let’s get into how both of these players landed on the biggest breakouts list:
Nic Claxton
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Claxton has improved immensely on both ends of the floor and that level of improvement has some touting him as a MIP (Most Improved Player) and DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) candidate. B/R has this to say about him in detail:
“Opponents are shooting 51.7 percent against him at the rim—the fourth stingiest mark among 207 players to contest at least 100 attempts around the basket. He ranks inside the top 10 of total point-blank looks contested overall.
Yet while Claxton has leveled up his defense, he’s taken longer, more meaningful strides on offense. He’s shooting almost 80 percent at the rim, which is fun. But he’s expanded his portfolio to feature more complicated usage.
Claxton has already made more hook shots (35) than he did all of last season (32) without sacrificing efficiency (46.7 percent). He is also, somewhat quietly, moonlighting on the perimeter. He has banged in 9-of-17 jumpers and looks ultra-comfortable putting the ball on the deck and attacking outside-in. His 35 made shots on drives are more than he had during his first three seasons combined—and come on a 57.4 percent clip from the floor.”
Mikal Bridges
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Bridges has been as expected, if not better, after he came to Brooklyn. He has displayed his defensive prowess while showing that he can score more than he did in Phoenix if he’s given the chance. B/R has this to say about him:
“Mikal Bridges started ascending as more of a self-creator and secondary playmaker with the Phoenix Suns. He has dialed his breakout up to 11 since joining the Brooklyn Nets.
Through his first seven games with his new team, he’s averaging 23.4 points while canning 54.1 percent of his twos and a whopping 47.1 percent of his threes. And he has spit out both this volume and efficiency amid more focal-point usage.
Over 39 percent of his made buckets with the Nets are going unassisted, up from 28.8 percent with the Suns, which was already up from 18.1 percent last season. Brooklyn is also plumbing the depths of Bridges’ initiation. The number of pick-and-rolls he’s running every game have spiked, and though his assists haven’t followed suit, his potential dimes have ticked up to 6.4 per game, a slight increase over his 6.0 in Phoenix. Both represent a demonstrative bump from last season’s 4.4 potential assists per game.”
