MACAU, CHINA –
The Brooklyn Nets are entering another transition year, but this
time, there’s no drama, no headlines, and no superstars looming
over the locker room. Just a group of players trying to build
something sustainable from the ground up.
Gone are the days of the
star-powered experiment that once featured Kevin Durant, Kyrie
Irving, and James Harden from three years ago. What remains are a
few steady hands, players like Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, who have
seen both sides of the franchise’s rollercoaster journey. As
Brooklyn prepares to play two games in the preseason slate in Macau
against the Suns, the two longest-tenured Nets reflect on what it
means to lead the team into this next era.
For Nic Claxton, who’s grown
from a wiry second-round project into one of the NBA’s most mobile
defensive big men, every year brings new lessons and
responsibilities.
“I’m adjusting – I mean, you
know, every year is different,” Claxton said. “You have a different
set of goals, but at the end of the day, you wanna go out there and
impact winning. That’s my job, and we got a lot of younger guys on
the team now, so I have to use my experience to help them out and
continue to grow my game as much as I can as well.”
It’s a mature outlook from a
player who’s quietly become one of Brooklyn’s pillars. Last season,
Claxton averaged 10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks –
anchoring a defense that was often tasked with holding the line
amid offensive inconsistencies. Now, under second-year head coach
Jordi Fernandez, Claxton is being asked to take another step – not
just as a rim protector, but as a leader in both tone and
preparation.
And by his own account, he’s
ready for that challenge. “My conditioning has been A1,” Claxton
said with confidence. “We’ve been practicing really hard, so I feel
like I’m in the best spot that I’ve been in in my career right now
with conditioning, for sure.”
That confidence is timely, as
the Nets’ new identity will revolve around toughness, defense, and
effort — areas where Claxton naturally thrives. With Fernandez
emphasizing pace and player development, Claxton’s voice will be
critical in setting the team’s standard.
While Claxton leads the
frontcourt, Cam Thomas continues to evolve as Brooklyn’s go-to
scorer. After averaging a career-high 24.0 points per game last
season, Thomas proved he can fill it up against anyone. But as the
23-year-old enters his fifth NBA season, the challenge isn’t just
scoring – it’s expanding his influence across a young locker
room.
“Just keep improving,” Thomas
said when asked about his expectations this year. “Playing hard and
being competitive, that’s really the main thing. You win, you lose
– whatever our coach wants – he always preaches to us it’s not
about the wins and the losses but it’s about how we compete as a
team and how we fight… just competing and fighting and the wins
will come. So, I just wanna keep following the system and following
what we do, and everything will work it out.”
That philosophy fits perfectly
with Fernandez’s developmental focus. The Nets are chasing habits
this year to hopefully build into the right step in the
future.
Thomas’ scoring ability is
well-documented, but this offseason, the guard also worked on
becoming more of a facilitator – a necessity on a roster that added
three rookie point guards. Still, Thomas expects to maintain his
aggressive offensive role while taking on more leadership
duties.
“I think my role will be the
same, nothing has changed really,” he said. “We got more young guys
now, I think I would have the same role that I had last year, and
just keep improving. Obviously just helping them get up to speed
and help them to understand NBA games as quickly as possible,”
Thomas shared. “My job is to try to get them up to speed as much as
I can, and offer up help in any way I can for them. Definitely
gonna be that leader in that aspect and I can’t wait to get
going.”
That sense of responsibility
represents another important shift for Brooklyn. With several
veterans already leaving the team in seasons past, Claxton and
Thomas now bridge the gap between the team’s past and its future.
Both have experienced the turbulence of constant roster turnover
and now find themselves in positions to stabilize the franchise
from within.
The Nets’ trip to Macau, part of
the NBA China Games, gave the group a valuable early test of that
chemistry. For a young team still finding its identity, dealing
with long travel, jet lag, and quick turnarounds mirrors the grind
of an 82-game season.
“Just our ability to adapt,”
Thomas said about how they can use this experience for the upcoming
NBA season. “We’re coming on a 17-hour flight, the time difference
is crazy. We’re not here very long to get acclimated as much as
we’d like, so we got two games in three days, so definitely
different. But I would say the biggest ability is to adapt to any
situation you can and be ready for back-to-backs in the
NBA.”
Adaptability might just become
Brooklyn’s defining trait. The Nets aren’t expected to compete for
a playoff spot immediately, but they have the right mix of youth
and hunger to make things interesting. Fernandez’s system – which
emphasizes spacing, movement, and defensive effort – is built for
players like Claxton and Thomas to thrive and lead.
Claxton’s voice on the floor and
Thomas’ scoring punch give Brooklyn a foundation to build on, even
as they continue to retool. And for both players, Macau served as
more than just a preseason stop – it was a reminder of how far
they’ve come/
As the Nets prepare for the
2025-26 season, the tone is different. No more quick fixes or
blockbuster expectations. Instead, there’s patience, growth, and
players like Claxton and Thomas ready to lead the climb.
“At the end of the day, you
wanna go out there and impact winning,” Claxton said. “That’s my
job.”
For a team trying to rediscover
its identity, that simple message might be exactly what Brooklyn
needs.
