What can the Nets expect in negotiations with free-agent Nic Claxton?
The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season in which they finished with a 32-50 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season. As Brooklyn progresses through an important offseason for the franchise, they will have to address arguably their most important matter by trying to re-sign an important free-agent.
The Nets’ biggest free-agent this summer is center Nic Claxton, who is an unrestricted free-agent this offseason and could have plenty of suitors for what he brings to the floor. A good thing for Brooklyn is that for the kind of contract that Claxton is expected to command, there many not be many teams that would be able to meet his monetary demands.
As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported this past season, executives around the NBA believe that Claxton’s contract in terms of average annual value (AAV) can range anywhere from $20 million to $27 million per year. Based off how Claxton has played the past two seasons, it seems that he will most likely land a deal between $20 million and $25 million.
Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report recently wrote a piece on what free-agency could look like for Claxton and one thing he said was interesting to read. “Among teams with at least $25 million in projected cap space—Detroit (Pistons), Oklahoma City (Thunder), Orlando (Magic), Philadelphia (76ers), Toronto (Raptors) and Utah (Jazz)—it’s hard to find a no-brainer landing spot with a willingness to break the bank for Claxton,” Hughes wrote.
While the Nets have a good shot of re-signing Claxton given that he wants to come back to Brooklyn (presumably at the right number), there are other teams in the league that could be willing to pay more for Claxton’s services. Out of the six teams that Hughes listed, the teams that likely would be pursuing a big man this offseason would be the Magic and the Jazz.
While anything can happen, the rest of the teams seem to have their center moving forward while Orlando and Utah could be looking for a good big man to improve their team. With that being said, it seems that Brooklyn has a good chance to re-sign Claxton, but they have to be careful to not underestimate his ability to leave for another team this summer.
