Nic Claxton Is A Legitimate Candidate For NBA Defensive Player Of The Year

After all the noise and worries at the beginning of the season, culminating in the firing of Steve Nash (and somehow not culminating in the trading of Kevin Durant), the Brooklyn Nets figured it out.

Where once it looked irredeemable – Durant with one foot out the door after his explicit trade request, Kyrie Irving being talked about as possibly being waived, Ben Simmons contributing nothing of note, other key contributors showing their age – they have instead become the contender that they were always supposed to be, and one of the very best teams in the NBA over the past two months. A recent Durant-less wobble over the past few games notwithstanding, their 31-19 record is good for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and a far cry from the worryingly limp 1-5 start they got off to.

Irving, the main cause of that worry given his off-court noise, has been a key to the turnaround. Finally putting together a lengthy stretch of good play in a Nets uniform, and putting aside all the other drama that had previously come to define his tenure with the team, he has averaged 27.3 points per game on the season, doing so in a typically unstoppable manner. Kyrie-esque way. When he is good, he is brilliant.

So too is Durant, back to his best at age 34 and posting 29.7 points per game on a savage .673% true shooting percentage. For any player at any time, his is a historic season; for someone of his age, it is bewilderingly good.

For offense, the Nets turn mostly to those two. But for defense, they rely on their third star, Nic Claxton, who has made such a label undeniable with his play so far.

On the season to date, Claxton is averaging 13.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.7 blocks per game, shooting 74.1% from the field to do so. The blocks and shooting percentage marks both lead the league, and on their own attest to his sizeable impact on the game. Yet when taken in context alongside his overall defensive impact, they still do not document his importance to the team.

Specifically, that importance lies in Claxton’s ability to defend every area of ​​the court, and against every type of player. With experience of playing the point guard spot in his high school days, and even some in his collegiate career at Georgia – yes, really – Claxton shuffles his quick feet better than almost everyone else at his position. When combining this with his 6’11 frame and great length, he makes for a massive moving target who always seems to stay in front, no matter what match-up he is charged with.

What Claxton does as an individual is what allows the Nets to do what they do as a team. The Nets deploy an incredibly switch-heavy team defensive philosophy on all areas of the court, in part through utilizing the relative agility of Durant at the ‘big’ forward spot, but mostly by relying on Claxton’s lateral speed. He can cover ground all over, hedge out, recover, and seem to protect both the lane and the line at the same time.

Moreover, he is routinely entrusted to do it in clutch situations. The Nets want teams to go against Claxton one on one, by design, with their star isolation scoring wings. To draw the switch is usually the offense’s upper hand. But Claxton’s range gives him the advantage. And in also adding muscle to his frame without any noticeable loss to his lateral speed, he is also now better equipped to deal with traditional centers, as Joel Embiid just found out.

Offensively, although his shot chart is testament to the fact that allusions early in his career to potentially having some shooting range are thus far unfounded – and his poor 47% free throw stroke suggests this will not be changing any time soon – Claxton has also taken leap forward. Averaging 15.6 points per game in January, his fluid movement, constant aerial threat, aggression on the offensive glass and ease of dunking at the rim make him an option on every trip, and added to that, he has much improved his non-dunk finishing .

Along with some sensible passing, transition rim-runs and screen-and-roll possessions, Claxton has found a way to make a significant impact on the offensive end while utilizing minimal dribbles. He may not have made enough of an offensive leap to overshadow the breakout performances of Lauri Markkanen in the Most Improved Player voting, but he is again in the running. Where once so recently he was benched behind DeAndre Jordan for whatever reason, Claxton is now a lynchpin, and an irreplaceable player for one of the NBA’s better teams.

On the season as a whole, the Nets rank ninth in defensive rating, and Claxton is the crux of it. His Joakim Noah-esque impact creates a team-wide defensive versatility that no one embodies better than himself, and in being incredibly efficient as a scorer on few touches, he is an excellent compliment to the two powerhouses around him. Claxton may not come away from the 2022/23 season with any individual awards to his name, but he is plenty deserving of at least one.