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OKC Thunder Holds Best Odds to Land Nets' Nic Claxton Out of Free Agency
Should Nic Claxton leave the Brooklyn Nets this offseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder has the best odds to land his services.
The Brooklyn Nets have to do everything they can to retain center Nic Claxton this offseason. Newly-hired Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez understands Claxton has to be a priority heading into the offseason as he's headed into unrestricted free agency after five seasons with the Nets.
“Nic is a quote-unquote big that has defensive versatility. I believe he’ll be Defensive Player of the Year. For us, he’s a priority in this summer,” Fernandez said at his introductory press conference.
The 24-year-old big man is an elite defensive center and his game continues to grow. He broke out during the 2022-23 season, finishing top-ten in Defensive Player of the Year voting and top-five in Most Improved Player voting for the season. There's a reason Nets general manager Sean Marks and Fernandez both believe they've got to make it a focus to return Claxton next season.
“Nic is the No. 1 priority for us, there’s no doubt about that. We hope he’s a Net for a very long time. We hope we can continue to build around him and build with him and so forth,” Marks said. “He’s scratched the surface on who he could end up being one day."
Should Claxton decide to leave in free agency, though, the Oklahoma City Thunder has the best odds to land the 6-foot-11 center. According to Bovada, the Thunder has +225 odds to sign Claxton, with the New Orleans Pelicans being the team with the second-best odds to land his services.
Neither of those teams can offer the role the Nets can in terms of minutes per game or even a starting job. They simply don't make sense as fits, and the Toronto Raptors have the third-best odds to land Claxton at +800.
The Nets clearly want to return Claxton next season, likely on a long-term deal that will see the center earn somewhere around $20 million yearly. With both Marks and Fernandez on the same page, it seems most likely Claxton remains in Brooklyn.
