Should the Nets consider extending Noah Clowney's contract?
· Yahoo Sports
Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney is one of the players that the Nets could sign to an contract extension if the franchise was inclined to keep him in the fold moving forward. When it comes to Brooklyn and how they approach the rest of its rebuild, every decision has to be weighed against what could be so it's fair to wonder if the Nets should extend Clowney.
Keith Smith of Spotrac recently put together a primer of every player that's eligible for an extension this offseason, broken into different aspects of how someone could be extended and when. For someone like Clowney, he is one of 22 players from the 2023 NBA Draft class that is eligible for rookie-scale extensions after San Antonio forward Victor Wembanyama signed his earlier this summer.
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"Over the years, Brooklyn has taken care of some of their own drafted-and-developed players, while others haven’t been extended. Clowney may be more in the latter camp, like Day’Ron Sharpe was before him," Smith wrote on Clowney earlier this summer when giving his prediction. Granted, Sharpe was re-signed by Brooklyn this offseason on a two-year, $20 million deal so it's fair to wonder if the Nets will go the same way with Clowney.
"The challenge for Clowney is that the rim-protecting, stretch-big archetype is still there, but it’s also still unrealized," Smith continued with his prediction. "If he had shown just a bit more consistency on both ends, an extension might have come. As it is, the Nets will continue to prioritize flexibility and let things play out to restricted free agency in 2027."
Smith predicted earlier in the summer that Clowney would not be signed to his rookie-scale extension, but that doesn't mean that his future with Brooklyn ends after this season if an extension is not reached. Clowney, 22, is coming off the best season of his three-year career as he averaged 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 39.6% from the field and 32.9% from behind the three-point line last season for the Nets.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Should the Nets consider extending Noah Clowney's contract?