With the Nets officially eliminated from contention for this postseason, attention has already turned to next season.
They can claim all they want that they have two feet in the present, but they’ve already got an eye on the future. That means seeing how quickly Noah Clowney can play a part in it. And how big a role that can be.
Without a first-round pick in the June draft — that’s owned by Houston, thanks to the James Harden trade — the Nets went for upside with both of last year’s first-round selections. They took teenagers Clowney and Dariq Whitehead with the 21st and 22nd picks, respectively, the two youngest players ever selected by the franchise.
And while Whitehead spent much of the season sidelined — first by a stress fracture and then from surgery — Clowney has been mostly developing in the G League. With the Nets no longer treading water in a vain attempt to make the play-in but finally resigned to their fate, it’s time to experiment. To see what they have.
Clowney has shown signs they might have something.
On the night Brooklyn was officially eliminated from playoff contention, Clowney helped power a victory over Indiana with a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-of-9 overall and 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
Lately, Clowney has taken away minutes from Day’Ron Sharpe backing up starting center Nic Claxton, and also shown the versatility to face the basket as a stretch four next to Claxton as well.
“I always say, ‘they bleed the same blood, they put their shorts on just like I do,'” Clowney said. “Yeah, [the Pacers] are a good team, but I’ve got to play with the same confidence I play with in the G [League] that I do here. I don’t want to start playing shy, and then I’m playing bad, tripping over mistakes. Just play confident.”
Wednesday set an odd tone, a victory that saw the Nets eliminated from playoff contention, a raw rookie with his first breakout performance getting celebrated by his teammates in the postgame locker room.
Clowney got the game ball and his game-worn jersey, which he said he’ll “probably get framed. My first real big performance.”
But it almost assuredly won’t be his last.
While mobbing the rookie after his big game against the Pacers, his teammates took amusement in the humble South Carolinian’s discomfort at being the center of attention, double entendre intended.
“It was just fun to see him get a little awkward when the attention is on him. So it was pretty cool to see that,” Mikal Bridges said with a laugh.
“Yeah, he played really well, and just understanding the game, and understanding the game plan and he has a good field of the game. He knows how to play the right way, knows [and] just understands basketball really well. And really efficient, too.”
That basketball IQ has come at a fairly tender age.
High ceiling
At just 19 years and 264 days old against the Pacers, Clowney was the youngest player in the NBA this season to notch 20 points, 10 rebounds and five offensive boards in a game. He’s the third-youngest player in league history to do so off the bench.
Clowney also was the youngest player in NBA annals to ever go 20 and 10 in 17 or fewer minutes, and just the sixth player to ever manage the feat.
It was a taste of what Clowney could become down the road, the ceiling he could reach.
Even he has no idea what that ceiling is.
“I don’t know yet,” Clowney said. “I hear a lot of different things. [Assistant coach Ronnie Burrell] tells me everyday, I do something that I didn’t know I could do a lot of days. So I don’t really [know]. I just work on one thing at a time, trying to get better at what’s at hand, trying to win.
“I think [I can contribute] a lot. I think I can guard, and I think I can get better [at] that. I can space the floor. And then I think next year I’m going to have a lot more I can bring to the team even than I’ve got now. But those are the two essentials, the two must-haves: rebounding, and the ability to play the right way, to make winning plays.”
For most of his rookie season, that has meant honing his game in the G League. That’s not shocking, considering his glaring youth.
Clowney played 19 games with Long Island, about twice as many as Claxton had during his rookie campaign in 2019-20.
So far in the G League, Clowney averaged 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks on .493/.339/.769 shooting splits. And he’d looked like he’d outgrown that level over his last four tilts with Long Island, with team-bests of 23.3 points-per game with and 8.8 boards on .653/.500/.706 splits.
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Going 8-of-16 from deep in those final four G League appearances bodes well, and he’s looked increasingly confident spacing the floor for a Brooklyn team in need of it.
“Really, at the end of the day, it’s still all basketball,” Clowney said. “The ball’s still round, the 3-point line is still the same distance, there’s still five people on each team. A lot of the concepts are similar. So I’ve just been ready to play; I’ve been playing.”
Big things take time
Whatever failings the Nets’ front office has had over the past several years — and there are many for a franchise that finds itself 30-47 — general manager Sean Marks has drafted a center every other year, and done it well.
Jarrett Allen was drafted at No. 22 in 2017 and — after being traded away in the James Harden deal — became an All-Star and $100 million player. Claxton got taken in the second round two years later, and is the anchor of Brooklyn’s defense. He’ll be vying for a similar windfall this upcoming summer as an unrestricted free agent.
Then came Sharpe in 2021, and now Clowney last June. The difference is the latter is the only one of the lot that can effectively face the basket, making him even more positionally versatile.
“I think I’ll be able to play both; and a lot of my development is going to have to be based around being able to put the ball on the floor to play the four more,” Clowney said. “And as far as the five, bulking up so I can guard a lot of bigger fives, to be honest. Whichever I’m in, I’m going to do what I’m asked. But I don’t feel like what position I’m playing affects what I’m doing on the floor so much.”
At 6-foot-9, 220 pounds, Clowney is going to have to bulk up to guard even medium-sized centers regularly or handle spot duty against the behemoths. He’s springy and got the leaping ability to block shots, but has to get just a tad quicker to realize his full rim-protecting potential.
“He’s position-less, and we want him to play like that,” interim head coach Kevin Ollis said. “He’s sticking one-through-five. I got some clips of him sticking, going over the pick-and-roll and blocking [Jordan] Poole, and switching out onto big men, got a charge [the other day]. I mean, he’s done all of those small things, and when he got comfortable shooting his 3-point shot, look out. He’s going to open up all of our offense.”
Clowney is still learning his teammates, committing a turnover Wednesday on a handoff with Cam Thomas because the way the Pacers guard Thomas is entirely different than the way they defend other non-scoring threats.
“He’s very cerebral, he’s a learner, a voracious learner, and I think he’s gonna continue to do a great job,” Ollie said. “The more information we give him, I think he raises his senses and he does it very well, how he processes information.”
That will come with time, and experience.
“Really just learning my team, and someone can benefit from that next year,” Clowney said.
He’s also figuring out how to leverage his impressive 7-foot-3 wingspan, guided not just by his coaches but his veteran teammates.
“They’re my dawgs,” Clowney said. “I care about all of ’em and I think we’ve got a good bond. They’re all supportive whenever I’m doing good, even when I’m doing bad, [telling me] keep your head up, keep playing. And they hold me accountable as well. They don’t just let me BS ’cause I’m young and I’ll get away with anything. So that’s good. I think we’ve all got a good bond, it’s good vibes.”
The Nets will need more plays like his recovery to block star Tyrese Haliburton. With power forward Dorian Finney-Smith a potential free agent after next season, Cam Johnson all-too-often injured and Sharpe not closing the season particularly well, a strong Summer League and rapid improvement by Clowney could be useful.
And he’s acutely aware of the weaknesses he needs to shore up.
“A combination; reps help me read the game in certain situations,” Clowney said. “You’ve got to know who to help for. And then knowing personnel, getting more games in with the big club, I’m knowing more players now. I can know what they can do, can’t do, how I can help off different guys.
“Then footwork, and then learning myself as well. They tell me a lot of times, I don’t have to press up too much because I do have long arms, so I can play my wingspan. Just learning myself, learning what I am capable of. Footwork too, I gotta get my foot speed up. It’s a combination of all of it.”
