It was always a foregone conclusion that Nic Claxton would become an unrestricted free agent.
But it’s no sure thing he will leave Brooklyn.
He might not ever even hit the open market.
More and more the perception around the NBA is that Claxton is likely to re-sign with the Nets.
That conceivably could happen before anybody else gets a chance to officially bid, with Brooklyn having an exclusive negotiating window with their center that starts the day after the NBA Finals ends.
Other teams can’t negotiate with Claxton until 6 p.m. on June 30.
It remains to be seen if the Nets will sign him before then, or at all.
But there’s a perception among league executives who spoke with The Post that he’s likely to re-sign. Yahoo Sports recently reported the same.
“Nic is the No. 1 priority for us, there’s no doubt about that,” general manager Sean Marks said. “We hope he’s a Net for a very long time. We hope we can continue to build around him and build with him and so forth. And it’s been fun to watch Nic develop from his days at Georgia coming all the way through here. He’s scratched the surface on who he could end up being one day.”
The Post spoke with multiple league executives about how much Claxton could command, with one suggesting he will get $20 million annually and another pointing toward a Jakob Poetl contract (four years, $78 million) as an absolute minimum.
Both suggested that deal likely will end up coming from Brooklyn.
“It’s important to sign our own and keep our guys here and develop our own,” Marks said. “That’s what we’ve done with Nic, and we’ve done that with a few other guys in the past. So, that’ll be a priority.”
One can debate about whether Brooklyn overpaid to retain Joe Harris in 2020 and Cam Johnson last summer.
But what’s not up for debate is Claxton being priority No. 1.
“This is my first time being an unrestricted free agent, it’s definitely a blessing,” Claxton said. “We’ll see. At the end of the day, business is business, and I have to weigh my options. I’m an unrestricted free agent, so it’ll be my decision at the end of the day. I have to talk with my family, my agent, pray about it and see if that’s the best fit.”
Claxton is likely to be the top center in the free-agent market, with the others including Isaiah Hartenstein and Jonas Valanciunas.
Yahoo Sports reported Claxton is “likely” to get a similar deal to the Knicks big man, projected to earn at least $80 million and perhaps top $100 million.
“It’s exciting, for me, at least. I know everybody’s situation is different, but for me personally, it’s fun, it’s exciting, the unknown of everything,” Claxton said. “I’m appreciative of Brooklyn for just giving me the opportunity to be here and support me. And like I said, we’ll see what happens.
“Brooklyn has really grown on me as a city that I’ve grown to love since I’ve been here these past going on five years. Just everything about it — the fashion, the culture, the pride that the people have here. We have good fans. This year we didn’t deliver the way we wanted, but Brooklyn, the support here definitely means a lot.”
Claxton averaged 11.8 points, 9.9 boards and 2.1 blocks.
He’s arguably the best switching big in the league, and new coach Jordi Fernandez lauded his importance.
“I believe he’ll be Defensive Player of the Year. For us, he’s a priority this summer,” Fernandez said.
“And the way we can play through him — obviously he’s great in pick-and-roll, he’s quick to the rim, he puts pressure on the rim — but also his ability to play the dribble-handoff game which lately in the NBA is a style that’s very efficient. It helps with ball movement. … So he fits perfectly what we want to do moving forward.”
