Insider Reveals the TRUTH About Nic Claxton Trade Rumors | Brooklyn Nets Fans NEED to See This

Insider Reveals the TRUTH About Nic Claxton Trade Rumors | Brooklyn Nets Fans NEED to See This

[Music] [Music] With free agency underway, the Brooklyn Nets have already undergone several crucial roster decisions. Could Nick Claxton be on the move next? That that’s what we’ll be talking about today with our incredible guest, Mr. Bob Windrum of Nets Daily. Mr. Windrum, thank you so much for sparing some time for us and coming on to the show. How you doing? Good, good, good.
Appreciate you as always. I’m super happy you are able to be here. And like I mentioned there in the open, that’s what we’re going to start off with today, the talking point of of Nick Claxton and and where he will be really for the 2025 2026 NBA season. When it comes to Claxton, we know the reported landing spot has been the LA Lakers if a trade does ultimately go through. This is a guy who signed a four-year hundred million dollar contract last season. One year into that deal, he hasn’t really lived up to the expectations. based on what you’re hearing, is a Claxton trade possible ahead of the 2025 2026 season and what does the framework for that look like? Well, first of all, I have seen no indication that the Nets are interested in trading him. Um, I’ve seen a lot of indications that the Lakers would like to have him, but appears that they’re going to be going after DeAndre Aiden. And there was some suggestion that the um that the Suns might um the Suns might want him, but they made moves yesterday as well. Um and you know there are other indications um that you know that essentially tell me that there may be this may be a case where Marks is taking calls and not making calls. Um and uh because point um at this point in the uh in the off season um you know he their center and they really and they got um they got Dron yesterday on a bargain deal. I thought
yes
I thought it was going to get $12 million a year. Mr. Woodram, I don’t I didn’t think it was going to be two years $12 million. I thought it was going to be for 202 for 24.
Yeah. Well, the the other thing about it is that it’s uh only guaranteed the first year.
Soly, and that’s 58 million. Um and it’s the same deal obviously that Zier Williams got. Um so, you know, I don’t see I I just haven’t seen any indication that the Nets are are, you know, that excited about moving him. Um, and I don’t think he’s that excited about moving. Um, you know, I uh his wife is is pregnant unless she’s delivered recently. Um, and you know, that’s the sort of thing that um wants to keep you uh around. Uh, and I just, you know, one of the things about the Lakers is the rumored of a Lakers deal never really appealed to me because if you really wanted to move Claxton, you would want to get a package that included first rounders and the Lakers don’t have any until 2032. And that’s one thing. And Laker picks are not that good. Traditionally, the Lakers have been to the um playoffs 65 of their 77 years of existence. That means the chances of them having a pick in the lottery are very small historically. Um so I think that that’s, you know, that’s one thing. I think that there is pressure in LA to get a big man. Um certainly after the discussion yesterday um about LeBron um opting in but also saying he wants to or also saying through intermediaries or his team or whatever you want to call it that he’s not married to the Lakers um if they aren’t going to if they aren’t going to push to get a championship level team. Um, and there’s also uncertainty out there about Austin Reeves and, you know, etc., etc. I’m they’re probably going to be very, very aggressive, but if they move towards the Andre Aton, that means that the market for Claxton is just, you know, I I don’t know where else it comes from. Um, and again, you know, he was hurt last year and I have to assume that he um, you know, that he’ll be better. And the other thing is his contract is very interesting because his contract descends in in in value uh, over the over the four years of the deal, not just in raw numbers, but also as a percentage of the cap. And in the fourth year of his deal, um I believe his I believe his contract is like 11.8% of the uh of the salary cap. So he becomes more of a bargain as things move forward, you know, assuming he can continue to develop and he’s still only he’s still only 25. And the fact that they signed him knowing they were going into a rebuild suggests to me that, you know, they that that he’s a core piece. Um, again, I don’t know. I have I have I have no clue as to what they’re thinking. They have been locked up tighter than a drum this time around. Um, at least in terms of specifics. In general terms, they’ve been pretty open, but in specifics, you’re not getting much out of them. My question to you then, Mr. Winro, if the Nets do keep Claxton this season, where does Dron Sharp really fit on this team, what role is he going to play on the 2526 Brooklyn Nets after signing him to an extension? How does he fit into this lineup if Claxton’s the starting center? Well, I think that I think that he has spoken um Sharp has spoken about expanding his game um particularly three-point shooting. Yep. and you know and the Nets will preach positionless basketball and there’s 48 minutes in a game etc. So I think you could see him playing some minutes at the four, some minutes at the five. Um you know there’s going to be a lot of competition. I mean you don’t know where Noah Clowny is going to play. Um you don’t know what Danny Wolf is going to do. Is Danny Wolf going to be mostly in Brooklyn or is he going to be developing in Long Island? I mean, there’s so many questions out there um that we’re not going to know the answer to uh until October. And, you know, they also have $17 million left that they could uh that they could use. And it’s not a case of where they’re going to stop at at at the salary cap. They can they can go over the cap in a lot of different ways. Well, $17 million is just the floor, too. Like, they need to I said $17 million is just the floor, too. Like, they need to get to the floor before the start of the season. Like, this team still has so much cap space left. To put that in perspective for everyone out there.
Yeah. And and the the other thing to note is that the you know, the the five rookies will command a guaranteed $19.7 million. Um, and that is not included. So, there’s going to be some additional additional numbers, but the way the CBA is set up um there are ways to get over the cap um by by sequencing your signings. Um you know, bird rights. Um you can use those. Um the rookie salaries are um are exceptions. um they’re usually the last signings. Um the first signings are when you are are usually players who you’ve acquired um or reacquired. So I think the first signings you actually see will be um will be uh Dron and Zire. Um, but you know, I assume they’re going to be making other moves as well between now and and probably July 6th. Um, so you know, in any event, I think what’s going to happen I I let me rephrase that. In any event, I think that you’re still somewhere in the in the mostly certain but not quite certain uh picture in terms of where you’re um in terms of where you’re where you’re headed next season. I mean, and I thought that the I thought that the move to get Michael Porter Jr. was, you know, was was a pretty good move. Um absolutely.
Yeah. I mean, he’s a very good player. Um, he no longer has the health issues that troubled him early in his career. He had three back surgeries in his career, which
like 77 games last season. Like, he’s been healthy the past three years in the league. He, the way I look at it, Mr. Win, is he’s he’s better at every aspect of basketball in my opinion than Cam Johnson. I think he’s a better defender. I think he’s a better scorer. I think he’s a better rebound. And I think he’s a better three-point shooter. This thing got you shot the three ball at nearly a 40% click last year.
No. And I think that what was I mean I I I saw Shams talking last night about how the Nuggets want a fresh start. Well, maybe, but it’s basically a salary dump in in which you get a better player, which is very odd. I mean, the the Nuggets get below the luxury tax threshold um as a result of this deal and they have no draft picks. They only had one draft pick going into yesterday and that was the 2032 pick and now they have none. They have no first round picks. So, you know, they are limited and they wanted to they wanted to get uh a little bit more flexibility in the cap um which they did. Um, and you know, he’s also he also just turned um uh he just turned 27 like I think it was yesterday. Um, so he’s still young. Um, and I think that the other thing about his contract is he’ll be expiring next year. Um, and even though even though he’s going to be paid $40.8 8 million next year. A lot of teams are going to have cap space next year and a lot of teams are going to be looking for somebody like him. So, um I think his I think his his contract is movable. Um it’s reasonable. Um, and I think that over the course of this year it may get better um, in value because he is going to be one of the excuse me, one of the two or three um, you know, go-to guys on the Nets um, in terms of scoring. Um and and and you know, as you note, he is a better scorer than um he is a better scorer than uh than Cam Johnson. Uh he’s also younger than Cam and he also has a ring. Cam Johnson got to the finals, but um in 2023, the Denver Nuggets won it all and he was critical. Uhuh.
So,
abs Yeah, absolutely. My my my next question for you here is the Nets exercised four team options just a few days ago. Tyrese Martin, Jaylen Wilson, Keon Johnson, and Drew Timmy were those four players. They’re non-g guaranteed salaries, these team option deals. That said, even a especially a guy like Drew Timmy who played a few games in Brooklyn last year, never really got in a groove. He wasn’t a 40 50 game guy in Brooklyn, spent the majority of the season in Long Island. Is there any chance you could see one of these guys not making the opening day roster for Brooklyn? Even a guy like Jaylen Wilson, who I understand led the minutes, led uh the Nets in minutes last year’s, but last season, but the Nets now have a ton of small forwards that they added this off season. They resigned Zia Williams. Anyone out of those four that you could see on the outside looking in come game one of the season?
I can I can see more than one. It depends. It depends on what they need. Um, you know, essentially Danny Wolf is Drew Timmy on steroids. Um, I think that’s the one that’s that’s the issue.
He’s also seven foot,
huh? He’s also seven foot too, which also adds another element,
right? Um although Timmy is probably 610, but that’s I and I I don’t know what the comparison is in wingspan, but yeah, I can see I can see any of those guys um not making the uh not making the final roster. I think the most likely guy um is Keon Johnson because he’s young. He really improved. He’s a grinder. Um Tyrese Martin showed that he could score big numbers. Um, and Jaylen Wilson is, you know, is one of those Swiss Army knife guys. Um, but yeah, I that adds to the flexibility. Each one of those guys is being paid about 2 million2.2 million. So, you know, they can also be traded. Um, they can be part of the deal. And I think that that’s one of the reasons why they extended them because they wanted the flexibility. And uh if you look at the roster math, you’re coming down, you know, 20 guys can can go into training camp. Um and right about now with the three invites that we know about and one that it’s pretty certain we’re going to get another one. Um you know, you’re at about 23 I guess about 23 now. um because you lost Trendom Watford, you lost um D’Angelo Russell, and you’re going to lose the an uh the Anthony Melton um probably to the Lakers. Um so, you know, you’re you’re going to be 22 23. There’s going to have to be some change before they uh before they go into training camp on I believe it’ll be September 28th. Um and there could be look, there could be moves today. The one name that I said last night that I thought people might want to pay attention to um
Cole Anthony.
Cole Anthony. Um and there’s a number of reasons, some of which are not well known. Um Cole Anthony is New York born, New York raised and a resident of New York. He is close to um the uh the ownership. Um, he is a veteran point guard when they don’t have any others on the on the roster. They have three rookies, but and he’s only 25. Um, and he would not be he would not be very um he would not be very expensive. Um, and I think that you’ll you see him at Barkley Center during the summer because he’s a
Liberty fan. Liberty fan, but you may see him at Barkley’s um you know, center as a player. I’m and I don’t know that. Again, as I said, it’s pretty it’s pretty closely held what’s going on, but he’s a name that I would that I would keep an eye on.
My question to you then, you mentioned Cole Anthony there. How many roster spots are truly up for grabs on this team? It’s a pretty for a team, Mr. win room that isn’t all that great, that doesn’t have all that many superstars and isn’t supposed to win 50 plus games. They have a very, very deep roster. Like, they have a lot of names filled up on the depth chart already. How many roster spots do you think are available? How many roster spots do you think are up for grabs? You know, again, I don’t know, but I think you have now, what is it, seven guaranteed deals? Um, I think that’s right. Um, and then you have and then you have Cam Thomas. Um, you and the and the four and the four non-G guaranteed guys and uh, you know, Toson who is under a G-League.
Oh god. Yeah. I mean, there’s lots of players there. Um, and I I I think it’s, you know, we’re pretty close, barring change, and I I I’m not going to bar change. Um, they’re pretty close to to um, you know, where they’re going to be. Um, and, you know, a development is going to be critical. And it’s not just the five rookies. Um I think yeah it I think that both Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney um were younger than about a third of the uh of the players who were drafted last week. Um so
it’s they’re they’re still very young. Um,
yeah,
and I think the, you know, development is going to be still an issue of course for the four non-g guaranteed guys. I mean, you know, they’re still they’re still developing. I mean, they have a lot of challenges, um, quite obviously, and they’re in the second year. They’re in the second year of what appears to be a three-year rebuild. Um, and in that second year, uh, you know, is when you’re going to see experimentation. I think it’s um I mean last year was a little different because they had a number of they had a number of veterans um you know with big contract. Buon never played but you know Ben was making $40 million and um and uh and DLO was making I think 20 or close to it. Um so it’s a very different situation now. Um, and I think you’ll see a lot of I think you’ll see a lot of experimentation. I think you’ll see a lot of the um the draft picks going back and forth to Long Island. Um, and but I do think that I think that the I think that assuming Nick stays, and I think he will, um, and assuming Cam gets his deal, which I think he will, I’ll be very surprised if not, um, and you have Porter. I mean, you’re there’s where your core is. Um, we still don’t know who’s going to be the point guard. That’s one of the reasons why, you know, I suggested Cole Anthony. Um,
I think it would have to be Yaore though. Sorry, I don’t mean to cut you off, but right now I think it would have to be Yaore.
You would think that, you know, because you want to give him the opportunity. Um, but, you know, they may slowly move him into uh into position. I mean, that’s their history. You know, they slowly move people into into the rotation, young players. I mean, like like Cam Thomas, um like Dron, um like Noah, um you know, they give them time in the GLeague, they give them they give them time on the roster. Um but, you know, they don’t throw them they don’t throw them right into the into the mix. And and I it’s possible they’ll do that because they obviously took five of them. Not only that, but they acquired one of the five the day before. Um
Exactly. So, and I I think that they believed that they were going to get five um five picks for a while. I don’t think that was a decision that that was sudden. If you even if you go back to watching the uh the scout docu series um what you will see in the in the uh in that series um is them talking about having five picks at or at that point it was four picks in a second um but having five picks at at each level of of the draft. And that said to me that, you know, maybe they were thinking about that early on, that that was that that was the plan. And, you know, they did talk to um San Antonio, they did talk to Philly, they did talk to Charlotte in terms of trying to move up. Now I don’t know who there I I I I believe sec from what I’m hearing secondhand that they liked Khan Canupal um who um if you listen to the um the podcast last week from KSL in uh Seattle, Travis Hansen, who’s a former NBA player um with the with the Jazz um talked about talked about draft night and talked about how they believed that as long as Kiple was um was off the board, they had a good chance of of being the the uh the Nets pick. And in fact, what they said was that indeed when he went forward, they were very optimistic. And not long after um not long after uh Canipple um you know was was drafted, they got a text from somebody in the Nets run office, two words which said he’s ours. Um so I think and again I’m not sure of this. Um and I try to be very careful with that but I think that they were interested in Canipple. Um, and I think they were uh and I think they had long-term interest in in in Devon. Um, you know, there were it was almost as and this is a simplification. It’s almost as as if they went with quick thinking prospects rather than quick twitch prospects, the younger athletic guys. Um, and you know, they’ve said they’re trying to model what happened with Indiana and and the Thunder. Um, and that’s what they’re built on. I mean, that obviously they have a star. In both cases, they were the young star who they got in who got in trades not long into their careers. But it was that it was those deep rosters with quick thinking um you know uh players uh who worked both ends of the court. Um and I think that’s their, you know, that’s what’s guiding them. I don’t know if it’s going to work. Um but you know, those five guys, there’s some interesting possibilities there. Mr. Windrum, really appreciate the time. Really appreciate you hopping on with us here on the show. You got any final thoughts you want to share with everyone here before we let you go?
Sure. I think that the key thing here um is basically there’s you’re going to see a lot of uncertainty through free agency in terms of you know what they’re going to be doing um all the way into the season. There are so many players who who are who could be rotation players. And as I said before, you’re going to see experiments on the court, but I also think you’re going to see experiments with, you know, how they develop these guys. Do some of them go to Long Island? Um, and you’re going to have to be patient. Um, you know, there’s just there’s just no way around that. Definitely. Appreciate it, Mr. Win. Have a great rest of your day.
Thank you. Bye-bye,
ladies and gentlemen. He’s Bob Winrum of Nets Daily. I am your host, Connor Long, signing off right here on the Brooklyn Boys Show. Make sure you smash the like button and hit subscribe. Follow Mr. Windrum on all social media, Nets Daily. Appreciate all of your support right here on the show. And as always, go Nets.

Brooklyn Nets insider Bob Windrem of Nets Daily joins host Connor Long on The Brooklyn Boys Show to break down the truth behind the Nic Claxton trade rumors. Is Claxton really on the move? What would a potential trade look like—and should the Nets even consider it?

In this exclusive interview, we dive deep into:

The full framework of a potential Claxton trade

Brooklyn’s long-term plans at center

What Bob is hearing from inside the Nets organization

The Nets’ offseason strategy and roster outlook

Don’t miss this must-watch episode for every Nets fan!

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