Tag: Brooklyn Nets

Nets’ Noah Clowney discusses playing in summer league, late-season play

After Sunday’s season-ending 107-86 loss at the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets rookie Noah Clowney discussed his play to end the season.

PHILADELPHIA — Brooklyn Nets rookie Noah Clowney made a big impression on Brooklyn’s fanbase with how he played towards the end of a disappointing season for the franchise. As the Nets sought to give some of the younger players like Clowney more playing time with the amount of injuries piling up, the organization saw some encouraging performances.

“We got potential,” Clowney said after Sunday’s 107-86 loss at the Philadelphia 76ers in the final game of Brooklyn’s 2023-24 season. Clowney put up 16 points, four rebounds, and two assists in the season finale to continue his strong ending to a promising rookie season in the NBA.

“We got a lot of potential and we have to unlock it,” Clowney explained of how much potential he believes that the Nets have. “Obviously no one comes and plans on having another season like this one. I think we learned from it, grew from it. But, the amount of losses we had was just too many. But, I think we learned from it, grew from it, and I think we have potential to be a much better team than I think we displayed.”

To Clowney’s point, the Nets experienced more losing this season than expected given that Brooklyn began this season with a 13-10 record that included some tough, close losses to some of the better teams in the league. However, since then, the Nets were unable to recover from a five-game losing streak that seemingly demoralized the players for the reminder of the campaign.

“It’s good for my confidence knowing I can compete at this level,” Clowney said of what he makes of his performance towards the end of the season. “Obviously I know I need to improve in various areas, but just knowing I can compete with these people.” In April, Clowney averaged 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 60.4% from the field and 47.1% from three-point land.

Going into his second season, Clowney, 19, said that he will play in the summer league for the Nets. He did not have the best performance in the summer league as he averaged just 4.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 22.6% from the field and 23.5% from deep.

“I’m just excited to hoop,” Clowney said of playing in the summer league. “I got the best job in the world, to be honest.” One of the interesting things about Clowney and Brooklyn is whether he will be playing power forward next season assuming that starting center Nic Claxton re-signs with the team in free-agency this offseason.

“I think we can be elite defensively,” Claxton explained. “I think we both have things we can work on, but specifically, defending quick guards is something we have to be better at. This summer we’re going to work toward it. And just being able to drive the ball through contact, closeouts, things like that when I’m playing on the perimeter more.”

[lawrence-related id=58474,58455,58451]

Nets’ Mikal Bridges discusses end of season, struggling mindset, more

During his exit interview on Monday, Brooklyn Nets guard Mikal Bridges discussed how this season went awry, his mindset, and more.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have finished a disappointing season in which they did not meet their own expectations of making the play-in tournament, let alone the playoffs. One of Brooklyn’s best players, Mikal Bridges, saw his production drop from last season along with the positive mood that he always seemed to be in prior to the losing.

“Any pro level, it’s rare where everybody comes back so I’m just cherishing that,” Bridges said during his exit interview on Monday. The Nets will have seven players that are free-agents this summer (three unrestricted and four restricted) including center Nic Claxton, who is by far the team’s biggest free-agent.

“I’m pretty close with everybody on this team,” Bridges explained. “Everybody be in different spots and you try your best to link up with everybody and see people in different cities, but knowing that this is pretty much the last time that everybody in that locker room will be together.”

The Nets seemed to have been ready to have a season that everybody could be proud of as they were coming off a huge win at the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 13, bringing them to a 13-10 record. However, from that point on, things for Brooklyn fell off the rails as they endured a five-game losing streak against some of the better teams in the league.

Following that demoralizing losing streak, the Nets played the lowly Detroit Pistons two straight times and won both games, giving the team some confidence that they could get out of their rut. However, the point of the season that most fans point to as the moment that the season changed for the worst was the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 27.

Brooklyn sat down a majority of their rotation players for the game with various injuries, a decision that was criticized by virtually everyone within the fanbase and Bridges was not a fan as well. “For the players, I know that I was pretty hurt from that, I was pretty pissed off about that situation.” The decision later caused the Nets to be fined $100,000 for violating the Player Participation Policy.

Bridges admitted that this season (32-50) was trying for him mentally as this was the worst season that he’s been through in terms of win-loss record since he was a rookie on a Phoenix team that went 19-63 in the 2018-19 season, Bridges’ rookie year.

“I think it was really tough just personally. I got a couple gray hairs. Wanting to win and compete and being frustrated on a lot of things. Being frustrated at myself. You just gotta go through it sometimes, you know? You have expectations, you have goals and sometimes, you don’t reach those goals. Life has a funny way of just humbling you a little bit, but it’s always for the greater good,” Bridges said.

Ultimately, Bridges took accountability for his behavior and his play not meeting expectations, vowing to “keep improving.” Bridges will have plenty of time this summer to work on his game and the strength of his mental fortitude.

[lawrence-related id=58455,58451,58448]

Sooners legend Blake Griffin officially announces retirement

Blake Griffin, a generational athlete and former Oklahoma Sooner announced his retirement after a 14-year NBA career.

An Oklahoma basketball legend called it a career on Tuesday. Sooners basketball legend Blake Griffin announced his retirement in a post he shared via social media on Tuesday morning.

Griffin ended his NBA career after 14 years. The bulk of his career came as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers after he was drafted in 2009 as the first overall pick. He also spent time with the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, and Boston Celtics.

Griffin retired as a six-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA Second Team, two-time All-NBA Third Team, and the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2009.

 

As a high schooler from Oklahoma City, Griffin won multiple state championships. He signed with the Sooners and went on to earn selections on the Big 12 All-Rookie Team and to the first-team All-Big 12 after posting 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds and ranking ninth in scoring, fourth in rebounding, and third in field goal percentage in the Big 12 Conference.

Instead of bolting for the impending NBA Draft, he stayed for one more year. He cemented his status as an Oklahoma basketball legend. During his sophomore season, he became the first player in Big 12 history to record back-to-back games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. He dropped 40 points and 23 rebounds against Texas Tech, becoming the only player in Big 12 history and the third player in the history of the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball program to record at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a game, joining [autotag]Wayman Tisdale[/autotag] and [autotag]Alvan Adams[/autotag].

He led Oklahoma to a regional final that saw them lose to eventual national champion UNC. That year, Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game during the regular season and earned All-American first team honors. He also swept every major player of the year award. He’s the only Sooner to win the Naismith Award, Oscar Robertson Trophy, Adolph Rupp Trophy, John Wooden Award, and the Associated Press Player of the Year in the same season.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

Nets’ Nic Claxton discusses the end of season, free-agency, more

During his exit interview on Monday, Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton addressed a disappointing season along with his free-agency and more.

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton is heading into free-agency for the first time in his career now that Brooklyn’s season has come to an end. Before Claxton thought about his free-agency in its entirety, he took some time to think about how this season went awry.

“Just trying to process everything. Obviously this season didn’t go the way we wanted it to, the way we had it planned,” Claxton said during his exit interview on Monday. In the midst of the Nets not meeting their own expectations of making the playoffs, Claxton had himself another solid season that will earn him a pretty penny on the open market.

You always grow during tough times, tough times at work,” Claxton said about how tough this season was. “A lot of times that’s where your true colors show. And, like I said, it wasn’t an easy year. But the guys in the locker room, we were still locked in no matter what was happening in wins and losses.”

Claxton, who will turn 25 years old on Apr. 17, averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 62.9% from the field and 55.1% from the free-throw line in his fifth season in the NBA. To put those numbers into perspective, he finished 13th in the league in rebounds per game, eighth in blocks per game, and fifth in field-goal percentage.

Claxton finds himself in a unique position as he could be signing a contract worth at least $20 million per season and still play for the team that drafted him with the 31st overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. However, he said that he’s still early in his decision-making process and described his first time being a free-agent as a “blessing.”

As someone who has seen his status within the league rise since last season when he was able to play more than 47 games for the first time in his career, Claxton is having fun with the process.

“I think it’s exciting, for me at least. I know everybody’s situation is different, but for me personally, it’s fun, it’s exciting, the unknown of everything. The position I’ve put myself in over these past couple of years is really amazing and I just have to thank God and just be grateful because a lot of things could’ve happened,” Claxton said.

[lawrence-related id=58445,58440,58437]

Report: Nets expected to hire Jordi Fernandez as head coach

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets have zeroed in on Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez to be the next head coach.

The Brooklyn Nets have been without a permanent head coach since Jacque Vaughn was fired during the All-Star break with a 21-33 record. After two months of the team being led by interim head coach Kevin Ollie, Brooklyn has found its coach to lead the team next season.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on Monday that the Nets are expected to hire Sacramento Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez as their head coach, per his sources. This is not too surprising given that Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported in recent weeks that Fernandez was expected to be one of the candidates for the job.

More to the point, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Saturday that Fernandez was among the finalists for Brooklyn’s head coach position, along with former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Phoenix Suns assistant Kevin Young. In somewhat of an upset, Fernandez wins the job amongst a pool of impressive candidates.

Fernandez, 41, has been coaching since 2006 as he has had stops with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Canton Charge of the G League, Denver Nuggets, and the head coach of the Canadian men’s basketball team. The Kings are the ninth seed in the Western Conference and will be hosting the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday so Fernandez could be done as a member of Sacramento’s coaching staff soon.

[lawrence-related id=58440,58437,58434]

Nets’ Cam Thomas reflects on growth this season, MIP award

During his exit interview on Monday, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas spoke on how his game grew this season, the MIP award, and more.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets‘ 2023-24 season ended on Sunday after they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, but one could argue that their postseason hopes ended before that. One of the few bright spots that came out of this disappointing season for Brooklyn was the emergence of Cam Thomas and how he burst onto the scene.

“I thought we was in a good spot this year,” Thomas said during his exit interview on Monday. Over the course of this season, Thomas went from projected bench scorer to being the best offensive player on a Nets team that struggled to find another source of consistent production. Thomas found himself in a new role and exceeded expectations when Brooklyn needed him the most.

“We started off good,” Thomas explained. “I mean, we lost some tough close games, all one possession games early. But then we found our stride, got some wins. And then i think we just hit that wall as a team, we couldn’t really recover from it. It was tough. But I mean, we always showed flashes of the kind of team we can be, you know, getting up and down, guarding, making 3s, just making shots as a team.”

The Nets began this season with a 13-10 record despite some tough, close losses to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Dallas Mavericks, two of the better teams in the NBA this season. However, after beating the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 13 to get to 13-10, Brooklyn proceeded to lose their next five games against better competition and it seems like the Nets never regained their competitiveness after that.

“Just knowing that I could be doubled a lot more, coming off screens and stuff, or even in the one-on-one situations, reading where the double will come from, seeing where teams double me, and the way teams double me,” Thomas said when asked what he will be working on this offseason.

Thomas had the best season of his career by far and that was due to playing on a more consistent basis and having a much larger role compared to his first two seasons in the NBA. Despite getting his opportunity in his third season, Thomas never lost confidence in himself or in the chance for his ascension to happen in Brooklyn.

“I always believed in myself and I know the kind of player that I am. I just want to keep working. I never really had doubts of not playing. I believe in myself and my ability the best way I can. Sometimes, it was just a timing thing. I never really had doubts about it happening here. I love it here. I got drafted here, so I’ll always have a place for it. I never really had doubts about playing here,” Thomas said.

While he isn’t likely to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award this season, Thomas believes that he should be in the conversation. “I should definitely be top three going from barely playing in the rotation and having little spurts in the season to going all the way up an 11-point jump to 22 points per game. Any other year, that goes noticed. But this year, it’s kind of gone unnoticed,” Thomas explained.

[lawrence-related id=58437,58434,58430]

As regular season ends, Rockets learn 2024 draft lottery odds

The Rockets will receive a 2024 lottery pick from the Nets, while there’s a small chance that Houston can avoid sending its own draft pick to Oklahoma City.

With the NBA’s 2023-24 regular season complete, the Houston Rockets have clarity on their odds entering the May 12 lottery to determine the 2024 first-round draft order.

Houston owns Brooklyn’s first-round draft selection, which enters in the No. 9 odds slot thanks to their 32-50 record. Houston controls Brooklyn’s first-round draft capital through 2027 due to the January 2021 trade involving James Harden.

The odds for that pick are as follows:

  • No. 1: 4.5%
  • No. 2: 4.8%
  • No. 3: 5.2%
  • No. 4: 5.7%
  • No. 9: 50.7%
  • No. 10: 25.9%
  • No. 11: 3.0%
  • No. 12: 0.1%
  • No. 13: 0.1%

Another way of framing it: The pick from Brooklyn has a 20.3% chance of being top four, a slightly above 50% chance of being No. 9, and a probability of just below 30% of being No. 10 or lower.

As for the Rockets (41-41), Houston likely enters the lottery with the No. 12 odds slot. Unless that pick lands in the top four, it goes to Oklahoma City as part of the Russell Westbrook trade from 2019.

However, unlike the pick headed from Brooklyn to Houston, the one slated to go from Houston to Oklahoma City does at least have a chance to not convey, depending on the lottery outcome.

Here’s a look at those percentages, should Houston stay at No. 12:

  • No. 1: 1.5%
  • No. 2: 1.7%
  • No. 3: 1.9%
  • No. 4: 2.1%
  • No. 12 or lower (pick goes to OKC): 92.9%

There is a small chance Houston could climb to the No. 11 odds slot if the Chicago defeats Miami in this week’s Eastern Conference play-in tournament. Since both the Bulls (39-43) had a worse record than the Rockets, they own higher odds slots. However, that would change if it unexpectedly makes the playoffs.

In that remote No. 11 odds slot scenario, the odds would be:

  • No. 1: 2.0%
  • No. 2: 2.2%
  • No. 3: 2.4%
  • No. 4: 2.8%
  • No. 11 or lower (pick to OKC): 90.6%

Whether Houston enters at No. 11 or No. 12 in the order, the odds are greater than 90% that the pick will go to the Thunder.

That said, it’s worth noting that the incoming selection from Brooklyn is already guaranteed to be higher than the outgoing pick to Oklahoma City, since the only way Houston’s pick could be ahead of Brooklyn’s selection is if Houston wins one of the four lottery selections. In that scenario, the Rockets would own both picks.

Houston also gets a 2024 second-round draft pick from Golden State (46-36), which will be at No. 43, 44 or 45 in the overall order. That will be decided by a random draw tiebreaker at a latest date.

[lawrence-related id=123028,120963]

Nets’ Kevin Ollie discusses Dennis Schroder’s leadership ability

Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie spoke on Dennis Schroder’s leadership.

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Dennis Schroder has been a welcomed addition to the team ever since he came to Brooklyn from the Toronto Raptors in a trade deadline deal. Not only has Schroder played well for a Nets team that needed his production at the lead guard spot, but he contributed to a team in another way as well.

“Yeah, he was like a leader right when he got in,” Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie said prior to Wednesday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors. Schroder is averaging 14.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 42.6% from the field and 42.1% from three-point range during his time in Brooklyn, but he’s bringing his decade worth of experience in the NBA.

“I think he brings it like a championship mentality,” Ollie explained. “Going on that (Western Conference Finals) run with the (Los Angeles) Lakers last year then doing what he did in the world cup with Germany and winning gold, he just has a natural ability to lead, ability to win.”

There have been plenty of instances this season where Schroder has pulled a player aside or has had long conversations with other rotation players on the team in an effort to figure something out moving forward. Schroder has one more season left on his contract, he’ll be paid a little more than $13 million, and the Nets will be happy to have his services.

[lawrence-related id=58337,58334,58331]

Nets’ Mikal Bridges speaks on his mixed experience this season

Brooklyn Nets guard Mikal Bridges spoke to reporters on Tuesday about how this season has not been fun due to the team missing the playoffs.

The Brooklyn Nets have had a disappointing 2023-24 season as their goal since training camp was to make it to the playoffs again. Unfortunately, this campaign will end with Brooklyn being unable to make the postseason in any way, including missing out on the Eastern Conference play-in tournament due to their poor play for long stretches.

Guard Mikal Bridges, one of the leaders on the Nets as well as the player that the team wanted to lead the team on both ends of the floor, told reporters on Tuesday that this season was “not fun at all.” Granted, Brooklyn was expected to be more of a team that either makes the play-in field or misses the playoffs completely so they had the worst of the outcomes.

What made this season disappointing for everyone involved is that the Nets began this season with a 13-10 record due to how well they were shooting the three-point shot, allowing them to be more competitive against the better teams in the NBA.

But, that 13-10 start seems like a lifetime ago and now, Bridges and the rest of the team get an earlier start to their offseason than most of them are used to.

“Obviously, you want to keep playing,” Bridges said. “The last time I was here [in a non-playoff situation], it [was] probably my second year in the league with the Suns. Yeah, you don’t want to be done in April.”

Now, everyone will have to deal with the reality that they will have to play much better next season if they want to sniff the playoffs.

[lawrence-related id=58337,58334,58331]

Nets’ Noah Clowney discusses how G League prepared him for his moment

After Wednesday’s 106-102 win over the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets rookie Noah Clowney spoke on how the G League prepared him to play.

NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets rookie Noah Clowney has burst onto the scene with some huge games for Brooklyn, playoff implications or not. With Clowney’s latest outing, he is not only endearing himself amongst Nets fans, but is also making history at the same time.

“They just kept trying to lay the ball up and I kept blocking them,” Clowney said after Wednesday’s 106-102 win over the Toronto Raptors. Clowney put up 10 points and seven rebounds, but where he really made his mark in this contest was with his seven blocks and he worked well in tandem with center Nic Claxton to protect the rim.

“G League was good for me, though,” Clowney said in response to whether his recent performances have been surprising him given how much time he spent with Long Island in the first half of the season. “I enjoyed it. It was good for my confidence as well. So, sometimes I wanted to be up here, but then, other times it was like, no, I know this is good for me.”

What is clear is that whatever Clowney has been doing prior to the past two weeks has prepared him for the extended minutes that he’s getting now that the Nets are not in contention for any kind of postseason play. That isn’t stopping him from sharing what he can do as long as he’s able and is on the floor in the right spot to make things happen.

[lawrence-related id=58356,58337,58334]