Noah Clowney displayed in the Las Vegas Summer League that he’s ready for an expanded role. The second-year Nets forward averaged 13.8 points, 1.6 blocks and 1.4 steals per game and made 39% of his 3-point attempts, Brian Lewis of the New York Post notes. He’s also got the kind of shot-blocking skills to make him a dual threat alongside Nic Claxton.
“I liked the way Noah played,” said Steve Hetzel, who coached the Nets in Vegas. “When we talked about growth and learning, the physicality of it — it was his birthday (on July 14), so he’s still a young man — he’s done a great job in the weight room, but he’s going to continue to get stronger. So it’s going to come with time.”
We have more on the Nets:
- Mikal Bridges flopped in his role as a leader last season, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (subscription required). Via his sources, Bondy reported that Bridges internalized the team’s struggles and became overwhelmed by the responsibility. He was neither the communicator nor the confident alpha the Nets needed from their best player, Bondy adds.
- New Nets coach Jordi Fernandez is busy coaching Team Canada in the Olympics. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch believes he’ll thrive in that role. “It was a home-run hire (for Canada). … Sometimes in the national team game, less is more,” Finch told The Athletic’s Eric Koreen. “And I think he’s got great emotional intelligence to figure that out.”
- The Nets will hold part of their training camp in California, Lewis writes. Brooklyn, which will play the Clippers in San Diego during the preseason, did the same thing three years ago.
That thumbnail is iconic lol
Bridges will lead by example with Knicks.
These will be his peak yrs …..
Tom Thibodeau is the first Knicks coach to ink a second contract under James Dolan’s ownership.
You wonder Why Knicks were nowhere. For so long.
A few months for the Nets to showcase Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, and Dennis Schröder will take priority over Noah Clowney’s development. I hope he’s working on his handles because it’s the only way he’ll thrive playing Power-Forward next to Nicolas Claxton. Everything else looks promising
I really wanna see Clowney starting at the 4. Finney-Smith is just not gonna move the needle much. He would be a great stopper off the bench as needed. I suppose my ideal lineup would be 1-Schroeder, 2-Thomas, 3-Johnson, and Clowney and Clax at the 4 and 5. You’re not getting ANY real defense from 1-3, but the combo of Clowney and Clax is gonna keep people from driving hard as often. I don’t know. At least Cam Thomas is gonna get his money’s worth of shot attempts.