Getty Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts.
A streak snapped is just an opportunity for the Brooklyn Nets (26-13) to address a few things and try to begin another one. Their 12-game run is even more impressive when viewed through the wider lens of them winning 17 of their last 19 outings.
It’s a stretch that has seen Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving fill up the stat sheet in all of the ways we’ve become accustomed to seeing.
But they have also gotten a breakout campaign from big man Nic Claxton.
Still, the Nets have been a fairly constant presence in trade chatter linking them to several other big men of varying caliber. It’s something Claxton has pushed back on and, judging from the words of Durant after the Nets’ 108-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Claxton has earned his faith as well.
Kevin Durant: Nic Claxton ‘Commanding A Lot’
“You got to be that anchor as the center and he’s learning by the day,” Durant said after the win. But he’s also actually commanding a lot out there as a big. Telling us where to be, speaking u on the switches, protecting the rim, rebounding the basketball. He’s doing a lot for us.”
Claxton has averaged 12 points on 71.3% true shooting with 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, and 1.8 assists in 17 appearances over the Nets’ 19-game run.
He leads the league in field goal percentage and is tied for the lead in blocks per game.
Needless to as,y this is a breakout campaign for the 23-year-old Claxton who was the first pick of the second round in the 2019 NBA Draft. Claxton has improved his production in virtually every facet over his first four years and is currently ninth among frontcourt players in the Eastern Conference in initial fan voting.
CLAX CLEANING UP
“He was always a confident player, always looking to get better,” Durant said acknowledging Claxton’s injury woes earlier in his career. “I think when opportunity meets preparation you become a good player. I think this last couple years, he been trying to figure out his role”
Claxton has never shied away from his potential previously saying that he felt he was the “best defender” in the NBA and that he should be in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year.
“We’ve been winning. My numbers are good. I’ve been protecting the rim, guarding one through five. So it’s just me being me, doing what I do, bringing that energy,” Claxton declared after the Nets’ 119-116 win over the Toronto Raptors on December 16 before adding, “And it’s great for the team.”
Nic Claxton Had a ‘Tough Transition’
Durant noted the “tough transition” Claxton has had as a young guy on a team with lofty goals.
“Being that anchor as we expect him to be, that’s a tough transition coming from a young college player, young guy in the league to you on teams now that’s trying to play deep into the playoffs” he said.
To Durant’s point, Claxton has been open in his calls for the team to play with the same intensity night in and night out.
“The confidence the trust, that’s big,” he said of their ability to overcome adversity in the win over New Orleans that saw Durant and Irving go 7-for-21 from the floor combined in the first half. “Just trusting each other. Rocking with whoever is out there on the court. And just knowing that those guys out there are going to hit those shots.”
Nets Have Their Anchor
Durant’s choice of words is notable not only because of the general discussion around the Nets ahead of the February 9 trade deadline. It’s also significant because that is the exact term used by Kevin Garnett and others as the type of player the Nets need to look into acquiring.
They have been linked to names such as Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers and De’Andre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns.
There have links to Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba and Dallas Mavericks’ big Christian Wood.
.@_claxton33 protecting the paint!
Bamba and Wood both project to be capable of playing alongside Claxton. But it is fair to wonder just how large of an investment the Nets should look to make at the position. Claxton has one more year on his contract before hitting free agency and will likely command a high sum on the open market for a team searching for its anchor if the Nets don’t lock him up.