Nets' Nic Claxton linked to Lakers as possible center option
The Brooklyn Nets are still early in the offseason plans for the 2025 NBA summer as they seek to remake the roster following a disappointing 26-56 campaign. Brooklyn heads into the 2025-26 season with plenty of cap space to sign free-agents, but there is a possibility that one of their highest-paid players could be playing for another team next season.
Nets center Nic Claxton is one of the players linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in their search for center depth, per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times on Friday. Woike pointed out that the Lakers are so intent to find a quality center that they would be willing to consider trading guard Austin Reaves, but only if the return is a top-tier level of big man.
"People, including the Lakers' scouts and executives here in Chicago, have openly spoke about the team's needs at the center position — an obvious priority for Pelinka and Redick," Woike wrote. "The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren't any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn's Nic Claxton and Dallas' Daniel Gafford."
Whether Los Angeles views Claxton as one befitting of the "top-tier" label remains to be seen, but it also sounds like Claxton and Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford may be two of the better big men possibly available this offseason. As of this writing, the Lakers have Two-Way Trey Jemison under contract for next season while starting center Jaxson Hayes will be an unrestricted free-agent.
Claxton, 26, is coming off a solid 2024-25 season, but it was also one of his more disappointing campaigns in the past few seasons. Claxton averaged 10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 56.3% from the field and 51.3% from the free-throw line. Claxton will be heading into the second year of the four-year, $97 million contract that he signed last summer.
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