Nic Claxton affirms it: he is a declared candidate for the Hakeem Olajuwon trophy which awards the best defender of the year. Certainly not an entirely impertinent statement, but nonetheless daring, whose credibility on the parquet will now have to be defended.
“I spoke, I suppose.” This phrase by a famous poet from Boulogne-Billancourt addressed to his rival from Sevran, Nic Claxton, could be his for the rest of the 2022-23 financial year. The pivot from Brooklyn (27 appearances this season, his fourth in the Great League) has in fact opened his mouth wide lately to the microphones of the YES Network (although this is a habit of many players) declaring that he is a top candidate to succeed Marcus Smart on DPOY charts.
Nic Claxton talks about the excitement and excitement he felt after tonight’s win against Toronto. #NETSonYES pic.twitter.com/LFPp7nkTwX
— SI Network (@YESNetwork) December 17, 2022
“I honestly feel like I’m one of the best defenders in the league, I feel like I should be at the top of the DPOY discussion. I feel like I don’t get the respect I deserve. We win, I have good stats (2.3 blocks on average this season, ed)I protect the circle, I can defend the five positions”.
You will have understood it, the young player (23 years old) does not lack insurance. In absolute terms, his remarks are not entirely unjustifiable. Indeed, even though KD’s teammates currently have only the 16th defensive rating in the NBA with 112.4 points conceded on 100 carries on average, Nico is doing his best to raise the bar, aswith his 110.3 defensive rating, he has the best of players playing 24+ minutes per game on the roster led by Jacque Vaughn.
In a Nets team that holds the record fourth in the West and seventh overall, it’s hard to deny his impact on his team this side of the court. However, individually, he still looks far from Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, OG Anunoby, Evan Mobley or even Brook Lopez who are forecast favourites. Even visually, despite his obvious mobility which allows him to maintain faster profiles in return, Claxton does not give the same impression of defensive dominance as the other League monsters on the pitch. The potential is there then, but at the moment aiming for the DPOY still seems a bit ambitious for the former University of Georgia.
I’m sorry Mr. Claxton, being a Virgin Islands insider (hello Tim Duncan) will not be a sufficient criterion to land yourself a DPOY. There is talk of a trophy that rewards the head of the category, and the Nets interior still has little time to reach the top of the mountain.
Source text : Yes Network
