Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) warms up before the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Barclays Center / Vincent Carchietta – USA TODAY Sports
Nets center Nic Claxton is coming off one of the best years of his NBA career.
The second-round pick improved in all areas of his game and was a force defensively for Brooklyn. He stayed healthy for the most part and was one of the top centers in the game.
Claxton posted career-highs across the board with 9.2 rebounds and 12.6 points on a franchise-record 70 percent shooting from the field. He also averaged 2.5 and finished with a total of 189, both of which were good enough for second in the league.
Despite that, Claxton was left off the NBA’s All-Defensive Team, for reasons he still doesn’t understand.
“It makes my blood boil,” he told reporters this week. “When KD and Kyrie left it’s like my name just fell off the map in a sense. I was robbed of a Defensive Team appearance. My numbers were amazing, I passed every eye test.”
Instead of dwelling on the past, though, Claxton took that disappointment into the offseason and used it as motivation. He’s now heading into a contract-year feeling stronger than ever and with an even bigger chip on his shoulder.
“It’s definitely motivating,” he said. “I just gotta keep on building. I’m ready to be there for my team and to prove to everybody and to myself who I am as a defender and as a player in this league.”
After his busy offseason working alongside veteran Spencer Dinwiddie, the 24-year-old has been drawing nothing but praise from his teammates and coaches since the beginning of training camp.
“I think Nic is going to make the biggest jump,” Dinwiddie said. “He’s going to be supremely motivated. I think Nic is going to try to establish himself at one of the premier big men in the league.”
“Each year he’s gotten better and that speaks and means something to me for sure,” head coach Jacque Vaughn added. “I think this has been his best offseason so far, hopefully he’s in the conversation of some post-season awards because he plays so well for us.”
Claxton and the Nets will…
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