Nic Claxton‘s development trajectory with the Nets has been solid of late.
After starting the season slowly dealing with a back injury, he has shown the potential and ability we’ve seen from him over the past few games. Additionally, he’s starting to add more of an outside shooting element to his game. This is largely due to head coach Jordi Fernandez’s desire to see his guys be more active in shooting from all over the court.
Simply put, Claxton is becoming a more well-rounded player.
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From his past few games, you can see that he’s showing his defensive potential and being much more aggressive on the offensive side. This is particularly true with his rebounding. In the past five games, he’s averaging eight boards per contest, and his overall season average is just under eight, at 7.8.
Claxton has also been improving his shot-blocking ability. Over his past five games, he’s earned eight blocks, making life more difficult for opponents in the paint.
Claxton’s Development is Making Him a More Complete Player
Since coming out of Georgia in 2019, Nic Claxton’s development has slowly improved each year. He showcases more and more of his abilities and the factors he plays in each game. He is becoming more of what an NBA center is in today’s game. A guy who can do a bit of everything at a high level. This was never more obvious than in the Nets’ close but tough 118-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last Sunday night.
You can argue that this was Claxton’s best game this season and perhaps in his entire career. Everything he did, he did incredibly well. He finished the game with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks. He was everywhere in that game. Despite scoring a game-high 34 points, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo struggled against Claxton’s stingy defense.
It was a grind-it-out type of game. Even though the Nets lost in the present, they won in the future, with Nic Claxton’s development continuing to improve and showing that exciting potential more and more.
With Claxton signed long-term, it’s clear that the Nets organization sees him as part of the core they want to have long-term. Now, it’s about continuing to develop his electrifying potential. It’s a game-by-game process, but it will be beneficial in the long run.
The sky is the limit for Nic Claxton and the Nets.
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