Clowney Takes Major Step Forward At Center In Frisky Nets Road Win

With 0.8 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Sunday night’s contest in Sacramento, the Nets had a sideline out of bounds play cued up. Trailing, 88-85, after blowing an early 19-point lead, shorthanded Brooklyn appeared to be succumbing to the inevitable against a solid Western Conference team in front of a raucous crowd.

Not so fast, said Nets sophomore big man Noah Clowney. The 20-year old came back to the ball to get reserve guard Shake Milton’s pass and in one quick motion, Clowney pivoted towards the basket and let fly a 25-foot jumper that swished through the net as the buzzer sounded.

It was the last of Clowney’s five three-pointers he would knock down over eight attempts before he was forced to exit midway through the fourth quarter with what the Nets called a sprain ankle, but I thought it was the biggest shot of a game that frisky Brooklyn (7-10) ended up stealing, 108-103. The 18 points Clowney registered was his season high and the second-most over the first 38 games of his NBA career.  

The Nets have been searching for a “stretch five” pretty much since Brook Lopez’s end days in Brooklyn. Clowney showed off his range at the tail end of last season, but the question was whether his leaner body could handle the rigors of interior roughhousing that the position requires. Having Clowney as the second big on the floor like how they do things in Boston and Cleveland seemed to make more sense—when paired with center Nic Claxton for 92 minutes last season, the Nets enjoyed a plus-2.6 net rating, per NBA.com. In 78 shared minutes to date this season, the net rating has surged to plus-13.5.  

Which made Sunday’s showing most impressive and promising from my perspective. Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis is a tough cover who combines high IQ skills with a punishing game in the post and on the offensive glass. With Claxton on a minutes restriction to manage an injured back, a chunk of Clowney’s 22 minutes of action came as Brooklyn’s sole big against Sabonis, which could have been a recipe for disaster.

Clowney rose to the occasion, however, holding Sabonis to 0-for-2 from the floor as the nearest defender without committing any shooting fouls, according to NBA.com’s tracking. Sabonis did most of his limited damage (13 points, 4 offensive rebounds) when switched onto smaller Nets defenders, a price Brooklyn has been willing to pay for their scrambling defensive style. For the record, NBA.com also showed Clowney holding Kings buzzsaw De’Aaron Fox to 1-for-3 shooting without fouling on those switches.

The play where Clowney came down on a Kings foot looked awful, but he was quoted afterwards saying he believed he avoided the worst case. It would be un-Nets like if he played in Monday night’s back-to-back in Golden State, but fans may be able to exhale if that prognosis is accurate.

For Clowney, Brooklyn’s No. 21 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, has quickly risen to the cream of the three-player crop from that Nets class. Dariq Whitehead, taken one slot later, is toiling away at G League Long Island, attempting to regain the form that once made him one of the top high schoolers in the country before lower body injuries set him back. And while I admire second rounder Jalen Wilson’s battle level, his athleticism deficit and streaky shooting may conspire to limit his ceiling to “solid bench contributor.”

Make no mistake, this has been a very uneven season for Clowney too, which is quite common for players at his age. His performance and, hence, his minutes reflect the mistakes he has made while attempting to earn new Head Coach Jordi Fernandez’s total trust. Per NBA.com, Clowney has played less than 1.5 minutes during Brooklyn’s 10 games that were decided in crunch time.

Because of his marksmanship, Clowney will continue to see harder closeouts, so he needs to improve his finishing around the basket (he’s converting less than 44% of his shots in the paint and 56% from inside the restricted area) and passing off short rolls. Defensively, I’ve seen growth in that he isn’t always chasing blocks (he drew his second charge of the season on Sunday, though he might have had a foot on the restricted area line), but it hasn’t translated into satisfactory defensive rebounding efficiency. And, of course, he must be diligent in the gym as he grows into his body.

Still, I can see Clowney as a rare player who could easily survive this Nets rebuilding project. As several NBA insiders have put it, no one in Brooklyn is off the table when it comes to trades, but giving up on Clowney’s potential with two more seasons on a rookie contract seems foolish.

In this lost cause season, the younger Nets will see plenty of opportunities to showcase their worth. Not all of them will succeed. I felt Clowney was the most intriguing, even if I may have been premature in pigeonholing his position.

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With starting point guard Dennis Schroder out on Sunday nursing a sore ankle, who had Milton, Ben Simmons’ backup all those years in Philadelphia, closing the game while Simmons watched from the bench? It was the right call by Fernandez, but…oof.