Nets’ Nic Claxton ranks 16th among most underpaid players in 2022-23
The Brooklyn Nets have intentions to make it to the playoffs next season and hope to make some noise in the postseason as well. One of the players that Brooklyn will be relying on to make its run to the playoffs and beyond is being recognized for how much value he’s providing.
According to Frank Urbina of HoopsHype, Nets center Nic Claxton was 16th on a list of 20 players in 2022-23 who were the most underpaid based on their performance during that season. As Urbina points out in his writing of Claxton, HoopsHype’s metric for determining what a player’s performance is worth, Claxton should have been paid almost $11 million more for what he did for the Nets last season.
Claxton, 24, had his best season in the NBA in 2022-23 as he attained career-highs in virtually every statistic, including ranking second in the league in blocks per game (2.5). He was not only regarded as one of the best defenders in the game throughout the season because of his ability to defend the rim and on the perimeter, Claxton also showed how much his offensive game has grown.
Here’s what Urbina had to say about Claxton with regards to his ranking on this list:
“A springy big man with great finishing and rim protection chops, Brooklyn Nets center Nicolas Claxton was one of the most underpaid players in basketball last season, outperforming his contract by $10.9 million, according to Real Value. Claxton enjoyed a career year in 2022-23, putting up 12.6 points and 9.2 rebounds on an astonishing 70.5 percent shooting mark from the floor, the most accurate clip in the NBA last season. Claxton has one more year left on his current deal which will pay him $9.6 million in 2023-24, a mark the athletic center will surely outperform once again before hitting unrestricted free agency in the 2024 offseason.”
