Nets’ Nic Claxton ranks 95th on The Ringer’s top-100 list
The Brooklyn Nets are one of the teams in the NBA that could stand to add some talent to a team that disappointedly missed the playoffs this season. As Brooklyn embarks on this offseason journey to improve as much as possible for next season, they will be happy to know that they could be re-signing another top-100 player.
In The Ringer’s top-100 NBA players list, the outlet ranked Nets center Nic Claxton as the 95th-best player in the league. Claxton, Brooklyn’s second player to make the list after guard Mikal Bridges made the list at 52nd, is ranked in front of Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and behind Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton.
Claxton, 25, is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he had similar numbers to his 2022-23 campaign, but did not receive any votes for the Defensive Player of the Year award. In 71 games played this season (71 starts), Claxton averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 62.9% from the field and 55.1% from the free-throw line.
The Ringer refers to Claxton as a “switch army knife capable of guarding all kinds of players, with plenty of potential still to tap into” in reference to his ability to being able to guard players on the interior and on the perimeter, something that sets Claxton apart from most big men in the NBA.
Justin Verrier of The Ringer had this to say about Claxton as an indication of where Claxton is within the center hierarchy and what that could mean for his future:
“There’s still plenty of room to grow: adding strength, fighting for contested rebounds, and lifting his free throw shooting out of hack-a territory are all on the to-do list. But as Brooklyn is still figuring out its road map back to contention, it’s possible that the unrestricted free agent will have to figure out the next phase of his game elsewhere.”
