The Brooklyn Nets declined to trade Mikal Bridges at the February NBA trade deadline, preferring instead to keep the 27-year-old wing, and hope to make a splash during the offseason.
Claxton, 25, signed a two-year contract in 2022 valued at a modest $17.2 million total, making him an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The defensive-oriented big man, who averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks this season, has previously found himself in Defensive Player Of the Year conversations, and is an impactful rim-runner who’s converted 79.1% of his shot attempts near the rim over the course of his career, a sky-high level of efficiency.
While Brooklyn does have his Bird Rights, and can thus offer him the best financial deal if they so choose, there are challenges ahead.
For one, the Nets struggled this season. They won just 32 games, despite the presence of Bridges, an emerging Cam Thomas (22.5 points), and Claxton himself.
It stands to reason that Claxton could be interested in joining a more competitive team, which would be his right, and the Nets would be forced to let him, as they have no matching rights on his contract.
Secondly, Claxton isn’t a max caliber player. That may not sound like much of a problem, but it does allow for other teams to make competitive bids, which could be too rich for the Nets. As the incumbent team, they can offer him higher raises than other interested parties, but those teams could up their total dollar offers to essentially make that advantage moot. At some point, presumably, there will be a walk-away price for the Nets, unless they’re willing to break the bank to keep Claxton in the fold.
(That being said, the market for centers remain in an odd place. Atlanta’s Onyeka Okongwu had to settle for an extension worth just $62 million total, and Chicago’s Andre Drummond has just completed a two-year contract that flirted with minimum territory.)
Regardless, the Nets find themselves in a tough spot. If they are to lose Claxton, does it then make a ton of sense to go all-in on a trade to pair Bridges with another star?
Losing Claxton means losing a considerable defensive asset, and one of the best rim protectors in the league. So even if they get someone in as, say, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, the loss of Claxton would greatly undermine how big of a push forward the team can make.
This isn’t to say Claxton is the key to Brooklyn’s entire future. However, he represents a significant role in how their offseason might end up, which does play a part in how they’ll perform next season.
Claxton, in many ways, should be viewed as a domino piece. If he stays, there’s some merit in going all-in on more talent. If he doesn’t, perhaps that’s a strong indicator of starting over from scratch, particularly as Bridges could still fetch an absolute haul.
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