Nets hang on to Nic Claxton, agreeing to four-year deal, reports say
Nets center Nic Claxton looks for an open teammate in the second half of an NBA basketball game against Golden State at Barclays Center on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
During exit interviews, Nic Claxton spoke highly of the Nets, the only team he’s played for in his five seasons. As a first-time free agent, he knew the decision wouldn’t be easy.
On Thursday, Claxton chose to stay in Brooklyn as he’ll sign a four-year, $100 million contract, per multiple reports. It keeps the center with the team that drafted him in the second round in 2019.
Claxton seemed to approve of the deal as he posted a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge on his Instagram story feed. He added the caption “I Know Who I Am”.
“Brooklyn has really grown on me as a city that I've grown to love since I've been here these past going on five years,” Claxton said in April during exit interviews. “Just everything about it -- the fashion, the culture, the pride that the people have here.”
Free agent contracts won’t become official until July 6. However, teams have been able to negotiate with their own free agents since June 19.
For the second consecutive season, the Nets re-signed their top offseason priority. Last season, it was Cam Johnson with a four-year deal. Now it’s Claxton, the team’s longest tenured player.
He grew from a raw prospect into defensive anchor over the last two seasons. He was eighth in the NBA with 2.1 blocks per game last season after averaging 2.8 in 2022-23 and finishing fifth in Most Improved Player voting.
He also averaged 11.8 points and 9.9 rebounds last season with a career-high 30 double-doubles. Claxton also took strides showing more on offense with seven games of at least 20 points, one more than last season.
The Nets’ longest tenured player, Claxton understands the team’s culture has evolved from playing with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to the new-look era led by Mikal Bridges. With Bridges now traded to the Knicks, he becomes entrenched as one of the team’s faces.
He’s also earned praise from first-year coach Jordi Fernandez, who singled him out during his introductory press conference.
“I think he's scratched the surface on who he could end up being one day,” Fernandez said. “I love the challenge of him being Defensive Player of the Year. Nic and I have talked in the offseason about similar accolades, Most Improved Player, Defensive Player, All-Defensive team and so forth.
Now he’ll get the chance to reach those goals as part of a rebuilding Nets team that seeks a new identity armed with a slew of draft picks, including four first-round picks in the 2025 draft.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.