{"id":353605,"date":"2021-10-16T08:30:14","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T05:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nic-claxtons-defensive-versatility-an-underrated-nets-asset\/"},"modified":"2021-10-16T08:30:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T05:30:14","slug":"nic-claxtons-defensive-versatility-an-underrated-nets-asset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nic-claxtons-defensive-versatility-an-underrated-nets-asset\/","title":{"rendered":"#Nic Claxton&#8217;s defensive versatility an underrated Nets asset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Nic Claxton&#8217;s defensive versatility an underrated Nets asset<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>The additions of Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldridge, along with the return of Blake Griffin, have given the Nets big-man depth they lacked last year. They have also overshadowed one potentially very important player.<\/p>\n<p>In the Nets\u2019 preseason finale, however, Nic Claxton showed why he could be such a valuable asset this season.<\/p>\n<p>The third-year pro notched 11 points and seven rebounds while providing exceptional defense to finish with a plus-26 rating across 24 minutes against the Timberwolves. In doing so, Claxton shook off a poor performance against the Lakers on Oct. 3 and missing Monday\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> against the 76ers with a non-COVID illness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI take a lot of pride in that and feel like I\u2019m one of the best defenders in the league,\u201d said the former second-round pick out of Georgia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Nic Claxton battles for a rebound during the Brooklyn Nets' game against the Miami Heat.\" class=\"wp-image-18100361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Kevin Durant raved about Claxton\u2019s ability to defend in the paint and on the perimeter at 6-foot-11, saying it is something the Nets will need often this coming season. Claxton attributed some of that versatility to the time he spent working with Durant when the superstar forward was rehabbing his torn Achilles tendon during his first year with Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see a big opportunity, and I\u2019m definitely ready,\u201d said Claxton, who averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 boards and 1.3 blocks in 32 games a year ago. \u201cMe being that energy guy, just creating opportunities for others, and I feel a lot stronger out there, especially on the defensive end just being able to hold my ground. I\u2019m looking forward to this year. It\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy goal this year is to take my conditioning to a whole nother level,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s a big part of my growth. It\u2019s something I really got to push myself just to get to that level to play as many minutes as I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>On Friday, the Nets waived guards Jordan Bowden and Brandon Rachal. They could end up with their G-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets.\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/16\/nic-claxtons-defensive-versatility-an-underrated-nets-asset\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Nic Claxton&#8217;s defensive versatility an underrated Nets asset&#8221; The additions of Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldridge, along with the return of Blake Griffin, have given the Nets big-man depth they lacked last year. They have also overshadowed one potentially very important player. In the Nets\u2019 preseason finale, however, Nic Claxton showed why he could be&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":353606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/nic_claxton_nets.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[117622,70487,95316],"class_list":["post-353605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-10-16-21","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-nic-claxton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}