May 28, 2025 • 32 mins
In Episode 30 of The Backcourt, host Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily is joined once again by Brooklyn Nets Radio Analyst Tim Capstraw to wrap up the player breakdown series with an in-depth look at Nic Claxton and Keon Johnson. The duo dives into Keon’s notable growth on both ends of the floor, while also examining Clax’s expanding role—especially his increased offensive responsibilities throughout the season.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You are now in the Backcourt a Brooklyn Nets podcast
presented by Ticketmaster. I am Lucas Kaplan of Nets Daily,
Nets Film Focus. Got some cool stuff coming for you
now that it's draft season, the offseason, a whole bunch
of stuff to tackle. But we're starting with our final
pod episode of our player season reviews for the twenty
(00:30):
twenty five season, talking about some guys, what they did well,
what we want to see more of, And joining me
once again is NETS Radio legend Tim Kapstra, the Kapper.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
How are you doing, Legend?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I liked that.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Of course you haven't done two thousand straight games for nothing.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
What is it like four thousand?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Now they're starting to make a big deal out of that,
you know, But that's nice. Luckiest guy in the world, man,
Locky with us guys talking about NBA and going to
basketball games, I get how lucky I am, how lucky
I've been, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, nothing better than being around basketball and talking about
the sport we love and watching it and UH privileged
to do this, and a privilege to talk about a
couple of Nets that had a lot of opportunity this season.
Uh privileged themselves in some ways as we again wrap
up you know, our discussions about guys this season. Can
(01:27):
scroll back in the pod for our previous episodes and
all that. But once again we got Kapper filling in
for Sarah Kustak admirably as always he does radio TV pods.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
He's he's a versatile guy, wouldn't you say so?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah? Okay, let's go.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's the one. That's the one. That's the one thing.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Caver doesn't want to dwell too much on his self praise,
which I totally get. Instead, instead, we're gonna praise Keon
Johnson today. We're gonna start with Keon and we're gonna
talk about his season and then follow up up with
Nick Claxton. So, Keon Johnson ends up. Where do you
think he ranks on the NETS team this season in
(02:07):
total minutes played?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Oh? Very high? Let me think, because I know who's
number one, which shocked me.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, Jalen Wilson's number one exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
I'll say three, he's three.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He actually ends up getting all the way up to
second this season, and he started the season kind of
outside on the fringes of the rotation. So those first
couple of games, you know, he's really low minutes, and
then that breakout game against Chicago at home where he
has twelve points, like a sick reverse dunk, a crossover,
a three, And from there on he moves up in
(02:44):
the rotation. He's getting low teens, high teens minutes. Then
the Nets go to the West Coast that three and
oh West Coast swing in California and Phoenix, and from
then on, you know he has a big part in
the Golden State comeback, and he is firmly, firmly at
the top of the rotation, playing close to thirty minutes
a night, and talk about a guy that took an
(03:06):
opportunity and ran with it. This year you talk a
lot about guys that have been able to kind of
rejuvenate their NBA careers, make a name for themselves, carve
out a role for themselves, and it felt like Keon
Johnson this year was the epitome of that. What did
you see from him in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Great, great call, great call because he got he found
a way to get in the lineup with his defense,
because he was an elite defender, athletic, working hard and
must have like just one of these infectious good attitudes.
You can just tell, and so he found a way
to get in the lineup. Okay, I'm gonna hustle, I'm
(03:45):
gonna rebound, i'm gonna scramble all over the floor. I'm
going to try to lock down the best offensive players
on the opposition's team. And then along the way he
was able to work on his offense, be be a
little bit more aggressive, go after things. And each month
he's a great story of his progress throughout the season
(04:08):
and how each month or certainly how it won staided.
You know, late in the year, has it just kept
getting better and better, And then he ends up getting
twenty one night. Then it's not a fluke because he's
doing it every so often. He's doing a pretty good
job with that. And then they start, well, he can
do everything, but he's really not a shooter, you know,
he really can't shoot well. Then so they're gonna give
(04:30):
him some space. Then he starts shooting the ball better,
and you say to yourself, well, man, that's that's an
interesting guy that got a great opportunity and made the
most of it. Because I think he again, he is
got a great opportunity. But you don't get that opportunity
without without doing a good job when you're out there,
(04:51):
certainly defensively, offensively on the backboard, and just working incredibly hard.
I'm really happy for him. I thought he showed a
lot this year.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I'm glad you talked about the kind of month over
month improvement before Christmas. Essentially he averaged six points, three boards,
an assist, and half a steal. He only shot thirty
three percent from the floor in twenty eight percent from three.
Playing about eighteen minutes a night after Christmas, which is
(05:20):
a much larger sample, you know, about fifty games or so,
he averages thirteen four three and one point three steals,
shooting forty one percent from the floor and thirty three
percent from three. He's the team's second leading scorer in
that span. You know, considering camp Thomas only played seven
games after Christmas. They relied on Keon for offense. And yeah,
(05:44):
there were a lot of imperfections, and I was, you know,
at willing apt to point those out on nets daily
throughout the season. But when you zoom out and you
look at it as a whole, this guy got a
lot better throughout the course of the season, and thirty
three percent from three over those fifty games, you know,
easily the best shooting stretch of his career. And you know,
(06:08):
he's twenty two years old, but the guy's played twelve
hundred and fifty minutes in the NBA in his career.
Eight hundred of those came this this season.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So it's just.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
He got better, kind of in the ways you'd expect,
maybe in the ways you didn't expect. You know, I
don't know if his improvement to you was unsurprising, surprising
there were things that stood out to you, or if
it was just kind of a classic case of player
development in your eyes.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, I'm not sure exactly how I feel. I do
think well, first of all, I watched the player development
of the coaches. I know some of these guys on coaching,
on the coaching staffs, and I go back, I go
back to writing a letter to Jay Hernandez every day
to try to get him to come to Wagner College.
That's it. And then I finally am unemployed after coaching,
(07:02):
and I'm working every day in a place called the
Island Garden, and I was on one side of the
floor trying to teach little kids how to shoot, and
Jay Hernandez was teaching on the other side. So I've
watched his whole so I know it's he's there, but
I know there's ten, you know, five eight other guys.
But and I don't even think Keon Johnson is a
particular player he works with. I just know that as
(07:23):
an example of it's player development with the NETS blows
me away. I am just in shock, and I am
just like they take this thing serious and not everybody does.
But it's at a whole other level. And when you watch,
guys just continue to improve because we see him before
(07:48):
the games, but there's so much more in a player development.
You don't see the main stuff. Do you see their
right their shooting, improve, their their decision making, improve on
being more under control. You know, he was not Keon
Johnson was a guy wasn't considered a good shooter at all,
got better. But I think this is an unbelievable summer
(08:09):
for him. You know, I'll go back to the greatest
example of ever for NETS fans. You can get a
lot better in a summer. Ask Jason Kidd about shooting
and being with a really good shooting coach. Okay, that
made all the difference for him, and he listened to
and he'd worked on it in the last seven years
(08:31):
of his career, the difference in his ability to make
shots and how it added to his career. Keon Johnson
can get up. He got better as a year one on.
All I heard about Jordi Fernandez is like, this is
the biggest summer of these guys' lives. This guy is
gonna get a lot better this summer. I think he's
gonna get a lot better. His shooting improved. I thought
(08:51):
his decision. I know, you made a note to me
that I thought was perfect. He made a note between
his one and two foot attempts in the paint, you
know what I mean? And right right, I thought that
was brilliant that you pointed that out, because that says
a lot about his you know, attack but be controlled
(09:12):
when you attack.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, and it speaks to the NETS player development that
you know. When I sat down with Keon we did
an episode of NETS film Folks together, he mentioned that
as something he was trying to work on. What's the
classic adage, quick to the paint, slow when you get there.
He when he gets to that two foot jump stop
and kind of can survey the floor. He's so explosive
(09:34):
off of two feet that you know, the finishing is
gonna come. I hand tracked it in around the All
Star break. He was shooting about sixty percent at the
rim as a guard when he when he when he
jumped off at two feet, which is above league gaverage,
well above league average and for players of his size,
and closer to forty percent at the rim, you know,
(09:54):
jumping off a one foot And obviously that's not indicative
of everything. And and those numbers did hold, you know,
throughout the remainder of the season, but it does show
you that when his decision making was more controlled, when
he got to positions that he was comfortable in, the
guy did show some real potential at the rim, you know,
as an inside finisher, playmaker or whatever. And he got
(10:17):
better throughout the year. And that's really all you can
ask for a guy that. Yeah, it was his fourth
NBA season, but it was his first season being a
relied upon rotation member, which is a completely different thing
than riding the bench and getting occasional, you know, occasional
spot minutes. He's, as I said, the second leading scorer
(10:38):
after Christmas. He's on the top of these scouting reports,
and I thought that he was able to carry that
load offensively, while probably I buried the lead bringing that
intensity defensively. I mean, he he was an attack dog
on defense this year. What is point of attack defense
mean to an NBA team? If you have a guy
(10:59):
like Keon that can just bother you, Yeah, he might
give a couple of fouls seventy feet away, but it's
a cumulative effect. I feel like applying pressure. You know,
how does that help an NBA defense?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Unbelievably? That is everything, isn't it? It's everything now different
you could say, and then you say point of attack defense, Well,
we talk about with the nets ninety four feet because
that can just wear you down over a game, over
an entire game. And how that's just kind of is
kind of grind him in an erosion, and how he
just looked like he Keon enjoyed it and he knew
(11:31):
he was special at that.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
But also point of attack defense when you now get
around a three point line, that's where all the offense
is created, and can you control the basketball guard your
yard or whatever. Can you do it in a manner
that another defender doesn't have to come over to provide
extra help and assistance. Isn't that? That's the essence of
(11:53):
NBA basketball right now, right or basketball in general. Get
an extra guy, beat a guy off to dribble and
force some help, and then get everybody in the blender,
throw the ball around, shoot the basketball. That that's what
the nets want to do, that's what teams want to do.
He was not only really good up the floor, he
(12:13):
was good on the wing. Like a lot of guys. Though,
he's got to get physical getting over screens. He's got
to get being able to be physical getting over screens,
not get screened off the ball. He gets he but
he he's impressive. What I liked what you said before
about the one foot and two foot in the paint.
(12:36):
I think the fan you know what's gonna run. I
think what's going to help him is that Jalen Brunson's
become such an elite considered such an elite player now
in the NBA. It's a copycat league for coaches, it's
a copycat league for players too. And to say to
a guy like Keon Johnson, Keon, just get to the
(12:56):
paint and then use your footwork, because at the end
of your footwork, your explosion in the air is so
elite that you can get there, get control, be there,
pivot up under back, fade, you can fade like Jordan
used to face. He can really elevate and then create
(13:19):
that touch. But I think a player, when star players
become really good fundamentally like Brunson is, I think that
there's a carryover to some of the younger players in
the league, and I think it's gonna be beneficial to
a player like Keon Johnson.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I mean, it does feel like, you know, NBA Driver's
offense is oscillating the pendulum, swing back almost to more
get in the paint. Get to two feet. You know,
you can make easier decisions from there. You can take contact,
you can draw fouls that way, and you know, the
one two eurostep deceleration really has come into.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Oh yeah, unbelievable, right getting to two feet now you
got to have both.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Now, yeah, you got to be able to slice through
guys with the long, slow steps and decel and all that.
But if you don't get to two feet, especially for
these uber athletic guys, you know, it's going to hurt
your game. And I thought Keon did a better job
of focusing on that throughout the year.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
So Jimmy Butler would be a good example for me
to Jimmy Butler getting into the paint being and a
lot of guys. You're right, it's become popular. Uh, you
know exactly what you said, quick, did the paint slow
when you get there, you know, and then control and
nothing frustrates me more. This is the then the out
of control layup off one foot that really wasn't and
(14:46):
you didn't engage the opposition center to come over to
miss the block shots so you can get the put back.
So you then missed the layup fall down out of
bounds right, so you miss it. And then there's a
power play on the other end five on four that
drives me nuts. Get there, get controlled f dcel two
(15:10):
feet high level plays at the rim, and I think
Keon Johnson got better at that, and that's another level
for him to get to. And of course obviously the shooting,
shooting will but the shooting will improve.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It will and it yeah, and you would believe it
because it has again, you know, throughout the season and
my first year of real NBA minutes, it gets better.
That's all you really want to see from young guys
getting their first opportunity in a rotation, and in many ways,
Kean was sort of an emblem of this next season
win where he brought the effort he needed to, He
(15:44):
got better at what he needed to get better at,
and uh, just a promising year for him. He is
a twenty two, He's gonna be twenty three next season
on a partially guaranteed contract. So again, we'll have to
see what happens. But you know, I'll tell you it
was a joy just to cover him, to be around him.
You could tell something started last season at summer league, honestly,
(16:04):
And you know, the Nets are going to draft some rookies.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
They got all these picks.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
There's going to be some young guys we're going to
get to summer league and.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We're gonna not you know, we're not.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
We're going to know not to overreact to summer league basketball.
But at the same time, I remember Keon last year
showing his ability to get into the paint, to make
smart decisions plays for others. The team noticed it, his
teammates noticed. It leads to a training camp contract, leads
to a conversion, you know, to a standard contract, and
(16:36):
I'm excited to see, you know, what he can keep
doing I'm excited to see what the Nets young guys
can do in Summer League this year.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
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Speaker 1 (17:16):
One guy that will not be playing Summer League, established
veteran in this league. One of the few the Nets
have on their team is Nick Claxton. He can you
believe this was his sixth year in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I mean time.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Flies tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Geez.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So what you hear, my age man? You'll be saying that, well,
you'll be saying that like unbelievable, right, I mean time
flies for Nick Claxon, for Lucas Kaplan, what about Holy
Cal I've been around forever. I can't believe he's around.
He's an established player, you know, curious to hear what
(17:53):
you want to talk about with Nick Clackson.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well, you know, he ends up playing seventy games, which
honestly surprised me with looking at it, because he did
have a and was dealing with this back injury throughout
the season and he talked about it at the exit interviews.
Still needs to get it right, So I do think
that affected his explosion. I think it affected, you know,
maybe just his athletic ability. In a couple spots this
(18:19):
year he averages ten points, seven boards to assist a
block and a half, plays just twenty seven minutes a
game this year, you know, had a lot of minutes
restriction days Dayron Sharp was playing so well at points
you couldn't keep him off the floor. And the big
story for Nick Claxton this year, I think was trying
to adjust on both ends of the floor. They put
(18:42):
the ball in his hands on playing the dribble handoff
game that you know, five out offense where he's almost
initiating kind of a lot of possessions and on defense,
playing more aggressive coverages, not just switching, which we know
we can do, but trapping, hedging, rotating back to the paint.
So though it was his sixty year in the league,
(19:04):
a learning year in a lot of ways for him.
What were your main overarching takeaways for Clacks this season.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, I thought I thought his injury slowed him down.
I thought I thought it hurt his conditioning. I thought
he was cautious. I thought he was probably paying playing.
You know, they had to be concerned about that because
when you saw him in shape as the season went on, Yeah,
a few of those games he was all over the place,
and that was that's the guy you want to be
able to see because man, I think that's a real
(19:34):
asset for him, his ability to move and fly around
the floor. So he's got to keep building on that
and hopefully injuries don't set him back on the offensive
side of the floor. I love the fact that you
can play off the elbow with him all the time.
He's got he's got that ability to you know, handle it,
(19:54):
pass it, fake the handoff at times, handle the ball.
He's a crafty guy. We know, because he can dribble
the ball well, he's got a really good handle. We
know he was one time a guard when he was young.
I thought he was. I think that's good. Anything that
can show a different different areas of the floor which
(20:18):
he can approve. I thought he I thought his offensive game.
Maybe the numbers don't aren't, didn't jump better or whatever,
but remember what he was. He was getting lobbed dunks
the last few years. Also, he got those this year,
but not at the same level. And he was showing
a little bit more around the basket, different hand, right handed.
(20:39):
He's gotten better, he's you know, shooting it. Shot some
threes at the end of the year. So he's he's
he's evolving. He's a really good player. And then at
the defensive end, of course, and I thought it was
great that, you know, don't don't just switch him out.
You know, I know he can guard the basketball and
he's great at that, but we also know that that
(21:00):
will hurt your rebounding. You know, you want to be
able to change up your pitches, right, be able to
throw a lot of pitches when you're a big man.
You don't want to just be in a drop. You
don't want to be just a switch guy. He was
at the level. He was active, he was blitzing, he
was flying around the floor at times, and I think
that's when he was when he was at his best.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, completely agree. I'm glad that they're really exploring playing
multiple coverages with him because it seems like, you know,
you watch these playoffs, you got to have all these
different pitches as a defense. It feels like the peak
promise of Nick Claxton is he can play drop really well.
We've seen it in long stretches, especially twenty twenty three.
(21:42):
We know he can switch even better, you know, better
than that. Now we're playing some more aggressive we're trapping,
we're hedging. So I like that he's getting reps in
all these coverages. You know, the hub offense for him,
the dribble handoffs, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Not perfect throughout the year, obviously, he's.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Real, you know, on a first year doing a lot
of this, but once that I thought was interesting. Before
the calendar flip to twenty twenty five, two assists to
one point three turnovers. After the calendar flips two point
four assists to one point two turnovers, so less fewer
illegal screens.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
He's also playing.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
More minutes than that's a big one.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Fewer you know, the screening angles and the screening is
so important. And Jordi Fernandez that was the first thing
he pointed out this season when asked for you know,
what he wanted to see from Nick Claxton in terms
of improvement making reads, you know, hitting backcutters. You saw
Nick Claxton improve it that as the season goes on,
I think enough to continue to get him reps you know,
(22:42):
on the team next season. The back injury, I think
really really stymied his his finishing at the rim earlier
in the season, and yet he ends up shooting seventy
one percent at the rim. That's well above league average
even among biggs. It's you know, less than his league
leading percentage in twenty twenty three. But even with the back,
(23:04):
even with the minutes restriction, he ends up finishing really
well at the rim. The thing, the area of that
I'm really monitoring for him is kind of that floater
hook range. You know, he made every single one of those.
It felt like two seasons ago he shot forty nine
percent per cleaning the glass from like I think it's
(23:25):
four to ten feet down to thirty eight percent this year,
So you really want to see that stabilize for him
and kind of increase his scoring floor. I don't know how,
you know, when you were teaching big men, coaching up
big men, that's soft touch.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It feels like he has. It feels like it comes
and goes. But I don't know. I've always I don't
think he was him.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I think he shot a lot more shots seven to
eight feet I shot. I you know, the different speech.
You know, it's a couple of feet when you get
you got to get depth, got you can't get pushed
off your spot or with him he might even ribble
it into the spot at times. But I thought he
gained some confidence in his ability to make. First of all,
(24:09):
he shoots some right handed shots quite a bit, right,
I mean, and he would, you know, And I just
thought it was a little bit, you know. I think
the four to six feet is you start talking six
to eight in that mid area. They're still considered mid
range shots, but they are about two feet three feet
(24:29):
out to ten feet. Your percentage goes down there. But
I think it's I think it's a I think his
game expanded offensively in that he believed in that shot,
but his numbers went down because he wasn't as close
as he normally was. If I were to look back,
just thinking about it from the big picture of the season.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I think that's a great point.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I mean, I can picture so many of those, you know,
kind of long push shots he took from like the
dotted line maybe instead of a closer hook shot.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
I tell you what, though, you gotta have that shot though,
don't you You see it in the playoffs these bigs.
He's got to work. We talk about guys working on
different things. That little what I call it with Heart
and Stein, the releasing of the doves they call it
when he when he raises his hands up. You know
I heard. I always listen to guys because they steal
(25:22):
everything they say. You know, they releasing of the doves
shot of Isaiah Hartenstein. He's got to have that a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I have to steal that because that's really good. And
Nick Claxton, we've seen him kind of go to that shot.
I think it can keep improving. But we've seen him
all to come together for him, you know, the switching,
the shot blocking. I thought the defense was better as
the year went on, ends up blocking a shot in
half a game, and for a guy playing up the
floor so much and having to recover to the paint,
(25:52):
I thought he was better at that throughout the season,
kind of understood what the Nets were wanting to do
on defense. Obviously, I think his couple standout games where
he always plays great against Milwaukee, you know, one of
the only Nets on the roster that remembers that epic
battle in twenty twenty one, the first game he really
(26:13):
looked like himself this year. He had twenty one and
ten against Milwaukee in December. Obviously, he had the sixteen
point and five block game against Philly where he hit
the game winning tip in. When he's right, he's active
on the offensive glass. He's long, he's springy, he's just
built like a guy that will give you trouble on
(26:35):
the offensive glass. And it's fitting that his game winner
this year was on a tip in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
What do you think? You know?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
One area of growth for Nick Klackson this year. One
positive sign in twenty twenty six, you know would be
what for the Nets, big.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Man everything better? What Jakovic said, the ability to playoff
the elbows, screening, understanding the offense at think that will
come natural. I think. I think, you know, the obvious thing.
Everybody's gonna say, Well, Kenny shooting the basketball right, shooting
the basketball, free throw, shooting, deep, three point shoot. He
(27:15):
made a couple of threes late later in the year.
He must have proven in practice that you know, they
charred everything, right, I know they charted a ton. He
must have hit some hit some markers where he was
allowed to take that shot. So I think possibly he
could improve on that. You know, he could improve in
his shooting. Free throw shooting is a big thing. He
(27:37):
always going to be a big thing with Claxton, and
just just his overall consistency of intensity all the time,
like flying around, because fitness, consistency, flying around. He's blessed
with these gifts of great after leticism. You know, just
(28:02):
be an unbelievable shape, condition and and and you know,
take care of your body and make sure you try
to be lucky. Sometimes you gotta be lucky with these injuries, right.
I think that really helped held him back. I'm sure
he wanted to show exactly what he was all about.
He got a nice contract in the offseason. He was
an established player. He's a prideful guy. What I love
(28:23):
about Claxtons He's not scared of anyone. He's since he
came into the league. He's like gets in verbal stuff
with embiid and he'll like, he're not scared of anybody,
and he believes in himself. I think I think he's
on the very you know, just a little bit of
everything coming together at a little bit higher level. On
(28:45):
on on the offensive side of the floor, be a
more consistent offense, you know, with everything, you know, all
the different areas. Yeah, I think he's a good player.
Then I think he wants to. As said, I think
he believes in himself. Listen, you know just what the
coaches tell you, man, get after it. And I think
he's capable even more. He's got all those gifts. Man,
(29:07):
He's got the body, he's got the athletic ability, he's
got more in him.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
And I think, you know, the attitude.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
I mean, he the injury was clearly bothering him this year,
and every time we talked to him, it was always accountability.
I have to be better. I don't want to talk
if I'm out there playing. I'm out there playing. He
you know, struggled at the beginning of this year it
weighed on him. He improved, you know, kind of a
more quiet leader. But I think the work ethic definitely,
(29:36):
you can tell someone guys respect, and he has been
a six year net. It's crazy to say. I think
this is the time, maybe you know, a season or two.
Not quite as good as his age twenty three year,
but a time to buy stock, especially if he gets healthy.
One quick correction from earlier in the episode. I misread
(29:58):
Keon Johnson's minute totals. It's actually about you played two
thousand minutes this year out of about three thousand in total.
I was looking at his field goal attempts, which also
played about you know, two thirds of his career totals
this season.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Nick Claxton not quite the same.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
He has an established you know, he has a fringe
all star year, I thought in twenty twenty three, trying
to get back to those heights. Playing a different role
this year, and Tim kapstro on a different role for
us coming in front of the camera on the podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed your stay in the backcourt.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Yeah, no, not, I really enjoyed it. Any time you
need me, any time, you know, I love talking basketball
with you. And I really love your work. I think
you've been such an incredible addition to the organization in
everything that you do. I keep your notifications on my
(30:55):
phone all the time. I learned how to do that
and very excited about that. And you just pump you know,
all day long. I get pumped up by Lucas Kaplan.
So I appreciate what you're doing. And if you are
a stock god by you too. Man. You got some
feature ahead of you.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Appreciate it. And I don't want to spoil too much.
But after those very kind words, but Caper and I
have a special episode of NETS Film Focus coming for
you guys this offseason, which was a treat. I very
much appreciate you having me on. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
I can't wait for everyone to see it. Can't wait
to listen to you on the call next season. As always,
(31:37):
this has been episode thirty. We reached episode thirty at
the Backcourt. Big shout out to kaeper for joining us.
Shout out to Kean Johnson and Nick Claxton, who I
had a great time covering this season. We will certainly
have much more for you this offseason, the draft, free agency,
trade season, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Is always crazy.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
We're recording this the day before the New York Liberty
raised their twenty twenty four banner home opener. So basketball
never stops in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Neither do we. And we really appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
For listening, like rate, subscribe, all that good stuff. This
has been the Backcourt, presented by Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Thank you, guys,
You are now in the Backcourt a Brooklyn Nets podcast
presented by Ticketmaster. I am Lucas Kaplan of Nets Daily,
Nets Film Focus. Got some cool stuff coming for you
now that it's draft season, the offseason, a whole bunch
of stuff to tackle. But we're starting with our final
pod episode of our player season reviews for the twenty
(00:30):
twenty five season, talking about some guys, what they did well,
what we want to see more of, And joining me
once again is NETS Radio legend Tim Kapstra, the Kapper.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
How are you doing, Legend?
Speaker 3 (00:43):
I liked that.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Of course you haven't done two thousand straight games for nothing.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
What is it like four thousand?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Now they're starting to make a big deal out of that,
you know, But that's nice. Luckiest guy in the world, man,
Locky with us guys talking about NBA and going to
basketball games, I get how lucky I am, how lucky
I've been, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Yeah, nothing better than being around basketball and talking about
the sport we love and watching it and UH privileged
to do this, and a privilege to talk about a
couple of Nets that had a lot of opportunity this season.
Uh privileged themselves in some ways as we again wrap
up you know, our discussions about guys this season. Can
(01:27):
scroll back in the pod for our previous episodes and
all that. But once again we got Kapper filling in
for Sarah Kustak admirably as always he does radio TV pods.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
He's he's a versatile guy, wouldn't you say so?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah? Okay, let's go.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's the one. That's the one. That's the one thing.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Caver doesn't want to dwell too much on his self praise,
which I totally get. Instead, instead, we're gonna praise Keon
Johnson today. We're gonna start with Keon and we're gonna
talk about his season and then follow up up with
Nick Claxton. So, Keon Johnson ends up. Where do you
think he ranks on the NETS team this season in
(02:07):
total minutes played?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Oh? Very high? Let me think, because I know who's
number one, which shocked me.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yeah, Jalen Wilson's number one exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
I'll say three, he's three.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
He actually ends up getting all the way up to
second this season, and he started the season kind of
outside on the fringes of the rotation. So those first
couple of games, you know, he's really low minutes, and
then that breakout game against Chicago at home where he
has twelve points, like a sick reverse dunk, a crossover,
a three, And from there on he moves up in
(02:44):
the rotation. He's getting low teens, high teens minutes. Then
the Nets go to the West Coast that three and
oh West Coast swing in California and Phoenix, and from
then on, you know he has a big part in
the Golden State comeback, and he is firmly, firmly at
the top of the rotation, playing close to thirty minutes
a night, and talk about a guy that took an
(03:06):
opportunity and ran with it. This year you talk a
lot about guys that have been able to kind of
rejuvenate their NBA careers, make a name for themselves, carve
out a role for themselves, and it felt like Keon
Johnson this year was the epitome of that. What did
you see from him in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Great, great call, great call because he got he found
a way to get in the lineup with his defense,
because he was an elite defender, athletic, working hard and
must have like just one of these infectious good attitudes.
You can just tell, and so he found a way
to get in the lineup. Okay, I'm gonna hustle, I'm
(03:45):
gonna rebound, i'm gonna scramble all over the floor. I'm
going to try to lock down the best offensive players
on the opposition's team. And then along the way he
was able to work on his offense, be be a
little bit more aggressive, go after things. And each month
he's a great story of his progress throughout the season
(04:08):
and how each month or certainly how it won staided.
You know, late in the year, has it just kept
getting better and better, And then he ends up getting
twenty one night. Then it's not a fluke because he's
doing it every so often. He's doing a pretty good
job with that. And then they start, well, he can
do everything, but he's really not a shooter, you know,
he really can't shoot well. Then so they're gonna give
(04:30):
him some space. Then he starts shooting the ball better,
and you say to yourself, well, man, that's that's an
interesting guy that got a great opportunity and made the
most of it. Because I think he again, he is
got a great opportunity. But you don't get that opportunity
without without doing a good job when you're out there,
(04:51):
certainly defensively, offensively on the backboard, and just working incredibly hard.
I'm really happy for him. I thought he showed a
lot this year.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I'm glad you talked about the kind of month over
month improvement before Christmas. Essentially he averaged six points, three boards,
an assist, and half a steal. He only shot thirty
three percent from the floor in twenty eight percent from three.
Playing about eighteen minutes a night after Christmas, which is
(05:20):
a much larger sample, you know, about fifty games or so,
he averages thirteen four three and one point three steals,
shooting forty one percent from the floor and thirty three
percent from three. He's the team's second leading scorer in
that span. You know, considering camp Thomas only played seven
games after Christmas. They relied on Keon for offense. And yeah,
(05:44):
there were a lot of imperfections, and I was, you know,
at willing apt to point those out on nets daily
throughout the season. But when you zoom out and you
look at it as a whole, this guy got a
lot better throughout the course of the season, and thirty
three percent from three over those fifty games, you know,
easily the best shooting stretch of his career. And you know,
(06:08):
he's twenty two years old, but the guy's played twelve
hundred and fifty minutes in the NBA in his career.
Eight hundred of those came this this season.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
So it's just.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
He got better, kind of in the ways you'd expect,
maybe in the ways you didn't expect. You know, I
don't know if his improvement to you was unsurprising, surprising
there were things that stood out to you, or if
it was just kind of a classic case of player
development in your eyes.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Yeah, I'm not sure exactly how I feel. I do
think well, first of all, I watched the player development
of the coaches. I know some of these guys on coaching,
on the coaching staffs, and I go back, I go
back to writing a letter to Jay Hernandez every day
to try to get him to come to Wagner College.
That's it. And then I finally am unemployed after coaching,
(07:02):
and I'm working every day in a place called the
Island Garden, and I was on one side of the
floor trying to teach little kids how to shoot, and
Jay Hernandez was teaching on the other side. So I've
watched his whole so I know it's he's there, but
I know there's ten, you know, five eight other guys.
But and I don't even think Keon Johnson is a
particular player he works with. I just know that as
(07:23):
an example of it's player development with the NETS blows
me away. I am just in shock, and I am
just like they take this thing serious and not everybody does.
But it's at a whole other level. And when you watch,
guys just continue to improve because we see him before
(07:48):
the games, but there's so much more in a player development.
You don't see the main stuff. Do you see their
right their shooting, improve, their their decision making, improve on
being more under control. You know, he was not Keon
Johnson was a guy wasn't considered a good shooter at all,
got better. But I think this is an unbelievable summer
(08:09):
for him. You know, I'll go back to the greatest
example of ever for NETS fans. You can get a
lot better in a summer. Ask Jason Kidd about shooting
and being with a really good shooting coach. Okay, that
made all the difference for him, and he listened to
and he'd worked on it in the last seven years
(08:31):
of his career, the difference in his ability to make
shots and how it added to his career. Keon Johnson
can get up. He got better as a year one on.
All I heard about Jordi Fernandez is like, this is
the biggest summer of these guys' lives. This guy is
gonna get a lot better this summer. I think he's
gonna get a lot better. His shooting improved. I thought
(08:51):
his decision. I know, you made a note to me
that I thought was perfect. He made a note between
his one and two foot attempts in the paint, you
know what I mean? And right right, I thought that
was brilliant that you pointed that out, because that says
a lot about his you know, attack but be controlled
(09:12):
when you attack.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Yeah, and it speaks to the NETS player development that
you know. When I sat down with Keon we did
an episode of NETS film Folks together, he mentioned that
as something he was trying to work on. What's the
classic adage, quick to the paint, slow when you get there.
He when he gets to that two foot jump stop
and kind of can survey the floor. He's so explosive
(09:34):
off of two feet that you know, the finishing is
gonna come. I hand tracked it in around the All
Star break. He was shooting about sixty percent at the
rim as a guard when he when he when he
jumped off at two feet, which is above league gaverage,
well above league average and for players of his size,
and closer to forty percent at the rim, you know,
(09:54):
jumping off a one foot And obviously that's not indicative
of everything. And and those numbers did hold, you know,
throughout the remainder of the season, but it does show
you that when his decision making was more controlled, when
he got to positions that he was comfortable in, the
guy did show some real potential at the rim, you know,
as an inside finisher, playmaker or whatever. And he got
(10:17):
better throughout the year. And that's really all you can
ask for a guy that. Yeah, it was his fourth
NBA season, but it was his first season being a
relied upon rotation member, which is a completely different thing
than riding the bench and getting occasional, you know, occasional
spot minutes. He's, as I said, the second leading scorer
(10:38):
after Christmas. He's on the top of these scouting reports,
and I thought that he was able to carry that
load offensively, while probably I buried the lead bringing that
intensity defensively. I mean, he he was an attack dog
on defense this year. What is point of attack defense
mean to an NBA team? If you have a guy
(10:59):
like Keon that can just bother you, Yeah, he might
give a couple of fouls seventy feet away, but it's
a cumulative effect. I feel like applying pressure. You know,
how does that help an NBA defense?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Unbelievably? That is everything, isn't it? It's everything now different
you could say, and then you say point of attack defense, Well,
we talk about with the nets ninety four feet because
that can just wear you down over a game, over
an entire game. And how that's just kind of is
kind of grind him in an erosion, and how he
just looked like he Keon enjoyed it and he knew
(11:31):
he was special at that.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
But also point of attack defense when you now get
around a three point line, that's where all the offense
is created, and can you control the basketball guard your
yard or whatever. Can you do it in a manner
that another defender doesn't have to come over to provide
extra help and assistance. Isn't that? That's the essence of
(11:53):
NBA basketball right now, right or basketball in general. Get
an extra guy, beat a guy off to dribble and
force some help, and then get everybody in the blender,
throw the ball around, shoot the basketball. That that's what
the nets want to do, that's what teams want to do.
He was not only really good up the floor, he
(12:13):
was good on the wing. Like a lot of guys. Though,
he's got to get physical getting over screens. He's got
to get being able to be physical getting over screens,
not get screened off the ball. He gets he but
he he's impressive. What I liked what you said before
about the one foot and two foot in the paint.
(12:36):
I think the fan you know what's gonna run. I
think what's going to help him is that Jalen Brunson's
become such an elite considered such an elite player now
in the NBA. It's a copycat league for coaches, it's
a copycat league for players too. And to say to
a guy like Keon Johnson, Keon, just get to the
(12:56):
paint and then use your footwork, because at the end
of your footwork, your explosion in the air is so
elite that you can get there, get control, be there,
pivot up under back, fade, you can fade like Jordan
used to face. He can really elevate and then create
(13:19):
that touch. But I think a player, when star players
become really good fundamentally like Brunson is, I think that
there's a carryover to some of the younger players in
the league, and I think it's gonna be beneficial to
a player like Keon Johnson.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I mean, it does feel like, you know, NBA Driver's
offense is oscillating the pendulum, swing back almost to more
get in the paint. Get to two feet. You know,
you can make easier decisions from there. You can take contact,
you can draw fouls that way, and you know, the
one two eurostep deceleration really has come into.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Oh yeah, unbelievable, right getting to two feet now you
got to have both.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Now, yeah, you got to be able to slice through
guys with the long, slow steps and decel and all that.
But if you don't get to two feet, especially for
these uber athletic guys, you know, it's going to hurt
your game. And I thought Keon did a better job
of focusing on that throughout the year.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
So Jimmy Butler would be a good example for me
to Jimmy Butler getting into the paint being and a
lot of guys. You're right, it's become popular. Uh, you
know exactly what you said, quick, did the paint slow
when you get there, you know, and then control and
nothing frustrates me more. This is the then the out
of control layup off one foot that really wasn't and
(14:46):
you didn't engage the opposition center to come over to
miss the block shots so you can get the put back.
So you then missed the layup fall down out of
bounds right, so you miss it. And then there's a
power play on the other end five on four that
drives me nuts. Get there, get controlled f dcel two
(15:10):
feet high level plays at the rim, and I think
Keon Johnson got better at that, and that's another level
for him to get to. And of course obviously the shooting,
shooting will but the shooting will improve.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It will and it yeah, and you would believe it
because it has again, you know, throughout the season and
my first year of real NBA minutes, it gets better.
That's all you really want to see from young guys
getting their first opportunity in a rotation, and in many ways,
Kean was sort of an emblem of this next season
win where he brought the effort he needed to, He
(15:44):
got better at what he needed to get better at,
and uh, just a promising year for him. He is
a twenty two, He's gonna be twenty three next season
on a partially guaranteed contract. So again, we'll have to
see what happens. But you know, I'll tell you it
was a joy just to cover him, to be around him.
You could tell something started last season at summer league, honestly,
(16:04):
And you know, the Nets are going to draft some rookies.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
They got all these picks.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
There's going to be some young guys we're going to
get to summer league and.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We're gonna not you know, we're not.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
We're going to know not to overreact to summer league basketball.
But at the same time, I remember Keon last year
showing his ability to get into the paint, to make
smart decisions plays for others. The team noticed it, his
teammates noticed. It leads to a training camp contract, leads
to a conversion, you know, to a standard contract, and
(16:36):
I'm excited to see, you know, what he can keep
doing I'm excited to see what the Nets young guys
can do in Summer League this year.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
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(17:06):
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Speaker 1 (17:16):
One guy that will not be playing Summer League, established
veteran in this league. One of the few the Nets
have on their team is Nick Claxton. He can you
believe this was his sixth year in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
I mean time.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Flies tell me about it.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Geez.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
So what you hear, my age man? You'll be saying that, well,
you'll be saying that like unbelievable, right, I mean time
flies for Nick Claxon, for Lucas Kaplan, what about Holy
Cal I've been around forever. I can't believe he's around.
He's an established player, you know, curious to hear what
(17:53):
you want to talk about with Nick Clackson.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Well, you know, he ends up playing seventy games, which
honestly surprised me with looking at it, because he did
have a and was dealing with this back injury throughout
the season and he talked about it at the exit interviews.
Still needs to get it right, So I do think
that affected his explosion. I think it affected, you know,
maybe just his athletic ability. In a couple spots this
(18:19):
year he averages ten points, seven boards to assist a
block and a half, plays just twenty seven minutes a
game this year, you know, had a lot of minutes
restriction days Dayron Sharp was playing so well at points
you couldn't keep him off the floor. And the big
story for Nick Claxton this year, I think was trying
to adjust on both ends of the floor. They put
(18:42):
the ball in his hands on playing the dribble handoff
game that you know, five out offense where he's almost
initiating kind of a lot of possessions and on defense,
playing more aggressive coverages, not just switching, which we know
we can do, but trapping, hedging, rotating back to the paint.
So though it was his sixty year in the league,
(19:04):
a learning year in a lot of ways for him.
What were your main overarching takeaways for Clacks this season.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Yeah, I thought I thought his injury slowed him down.
I thought I thought it hurt his conditioning. I thought
he was cautious. I thought he was probably paying playing.
You know, they had to be concerned about that because
when you saw him in shape as the season went on, Yeah,
a few of those games he was all over the place,
and that was that's the guy you want to be
able to see because man, I think that's a real
(19:34):
asset for him, his ability to move and fly around
the floor. So he's got to keep building on that
and hopefully injuries don't set him back on the offensive
side of the floor. I love the fact that you
can play off the elbow with him all the time.
He's got he's got that ability to you know, handle it,
(19:54):
pass it, fake the handoff at times, handle the ball.
He's a crafty guy. We know, because he can dribble
the ball well, he's got a really good handle. We
know he was one time a guard when he was young.
I thought he was. I think that's good. Anything that
can show a different different areas of the floor which
(20:18):
he can approve. I thought he I thought his offensive game.
Maybe the numbers don't aren't, didn't jump better or whatever,
but remember what he was. He was getting lobbed dunks
the last few years. Also, he got those this year,
but not at the same level. And he was showing
a little bit more around the basket, different hand, right handed.
(20:39):
He's gotten better, he's you know, shooting it. Shot some
threes at the end of the year. So he's he's
he's evolving. He's a really good player. And then at
the defensive end, of course, and I thought it was
great that, you know, don't don't just switch him out.
You know, I know he can guard the basketball and
he's great at that, but we also know that that
(21:00):
will hurt your rebounding. You know, you want to be
able to change up your pitches, right, be able to
throw a lot of pitches when you're a big man.
You don't want to just be in a drop. You
don't want to be just a switch guy. He was
at the level. He was active, he was blitzing, he
was flying around the floor at times, and I think
that's when he was when he was at his best.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, completely agree. I'm glad that they're really exploring playing
multiple coverages with him because it seems like, you know,
you watch these playoffs, you got to have all these
different pitches as a defense. It feels like the peak
promise of Nick Claxton is he can play drop really well.
We've seen it in long stretches, especially twenty twenty three.
(21:42):
We know he can switch even better, you know, better
than that. Now we're playing some more aggressive we're trapping,
we're hedging. So I like that he's getting reps in
all these coverages. You know, the hub offense for him,
the dribble handoffs, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Not perfect throughout the year, obviously, he's.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Real, you know, on a first year doing a lot
of this, but once that I thought was interesting. Before
the calendar flip to twenty twenty five, two assists to
one point three turnovers. After the calendar flips two point
four assists to one point two turnovers, so less fewer
illegal screens.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
He's also playing.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
More minutes than that's a big one.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Fewer you know, the screening angles and the screening is
so important. And Jordi Fernandez that was the first thing
he pointed out this season when asked for you know,
what he wanted to see from Nick Claxton in terms
of improvement making reads, you know, hitting backcutters. You saw
Nick Claxton improve it that as the season goes on,
I think enough to continue to get him reps you know,
(22:42):
on the team next season. The back injury, I think
really really stymied his his finishing at the rim earlier
in the season, and yet he ends up shooting seventy
one percent at the rim. That's well above league average
even among biggs. It's you know, less than his league
leading percentage in twenty twenty three. But even with the back,
(23:04):
even with the minutes restriction, he ends up finishing really
well at the rim. The thing, the area of that
I'm really monitoring for him is kind of that floater
hook range. You know, he made every single one of those.
It felt like two seasons ago he shot forty nine
percent per cleaning the glass from like I think it's
(23:25):
four to ten feet down to thirty eight percent this year,
So you really want to see that stabilize for him
and kind of increase his scoring floor. I don't know how,
you know, when you were teaching big men, coaching up
big men, that's soft touch.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
It feels like he has. It feels like it comes
and goes. But I don't know. I've always I don't
think he was him.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
I think he shot a lot more shots seven to
eight feet I shot. I you know, the different speech.
You know, it's a couple of feet when you get
you got to get depth, got you can't get pushed
off your spot or with him he might even ribble
it into the spot at times. But I thought he
gained some confidence in his ability to make. First of all,
(24:09):
he shoots some right handed shots quite a bit, right,
I mean, and he would, you know, And I just
thought it was a little bit, you know. I think
the four to six feet is you start talking six
to eight in that mid area. They're still considered mid
range shots, but they are about two feet three feet
(24:29):
out to ten feet. Your percentage goes down there. But
I think it's I think it's a I think his
game expanded offensively in that he believed in that shot,
but his numbers went down because he wasn't as close
as he normally was. If I were to look back,
just thinking about it from the big picture of the season.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I think that's a great point.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I mean, I can picture so many of those, you know,
kind of long push shots he took from like the
dotted line maybe instead of a closer hook shot.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
I tell you what, though, you gotta have that shot though,
don't you You see it in the playoffs these bigs.
He's got to work. We talk about guys working on
different things. That little what I call it with Heart
and Stein, the releasing of the doves they call it
when he when he raises his hands up. You know
I heard. I always listen to guys because they steal
(25:22):
everything they say. You know, they releasing of the doves
shot of Isaiah Hartenstein. He's got to have that a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
I have to steal that because that's really good. And
Nick Claxton, we've seen him kind of go to that shot.
I think it can keep improving. But we've seen him
all to come together for him, you know, the switching,
the shot blocking. I thought the defense was better as
the year went on, ends up blocking a shot in
half a game, and for a guy playing up the
floor so much and having to recover to the paint,
(25:52):
I thought he was better at that throughout the season,
kind of understood what the Nets were wanting to do
on defense. Obviously, I think his couple standout games where
he always plays great against Milwaukee, you know, one of
the only Nets on the roster that remembers that epic
battle in twenty twenty one, the first game he really
(26:13):
looked like himself this year. He had twenty one and
ten against Milwaukee in December. Obviously, he had the sixteen
point and five block game against Philly where he hit
the game winning tip in. When he's right, he's active
on the offensive glass. He's long, he's springy, he's just
built like a guy that will give you trouble on
(26:35):
the offensive glass. And it's fitting that his game winner
this year was on a tip in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
What do you think? You know?
Speaker 1 (26:43):
One area of growth for Nick Klackson this year. One
positive sign in twenty twenty six, you know would be
what for the Nets, big.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Man everything better? What Jakovic said, the ability to playoff
the elbows, screening, understanding the offense at think that will
come natural. I think. I think, you know, the obvious thing.
Everybody's gonna say, Well, Kenny shooting the basketball right, shooting
the basketball, free throw, shooting, deep, three point shoot. He
(27:15):
made a couple of threes late later in the year.
He must have proven in practice that you know, they
charred everything, right, I know they charted a ton. He
must have hit some hit some markers where he was
allowed to take that shot. So I think possibly he
could improve on that. You know, he could improve in
his shooting. Free throw shooting is a big thing. He
(27:37):
always going to be a big thing with Claxton, and
just just his overall consistency of intensity all the time,
like flying around, because fitness, consistency, flying around. He's blessed
with these gifts of great after leticism. You know, just
(28:02):
be an unbelievable shape, condition and and and you know,
take care of your body and make sure you try
to be lucky. Sometimes you gotta be lucky with these injuries, right.
I think that really helped held him back. I'm sure
he wanted to show exactly what he was all about.
He got a nice contract in the offseason. He was
an established player. He's a prideful guy. What I love
(28:23):
about Claxtons He's not scared of anyone. He's since he
came into the league. He's like gets in verbal stuff
with embiid and he'll like, he're not scared of anybody,
and he believes in himself. I think I think he's
on the very you know, just a little bit of
everything coming together at a little bit higher level. On
(28:45):
on on the offensive side of the floor, be a
more consistent offense, you know, with everything, you know, all
the different areas. Yeah, I think he's a good player.
Then I think he wants to. As said, I think
he believes in himself. Listen, you know just what the
coaches tell you, man, get after it. And I think
he's capable even more. He's got all those gifts. Man,
(29:07):
He's got the body, he's got the athletic ability, he's
got more in him.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
And I think, you know, the attitude.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
I mean, he the injury was clearly bothering him this year,
and every time we talked to him, it was always accountability.
I have to be better. I don't want to talk
if I'm out there playing. I'm out there playing. He
you know, struggled at the beginning of this year it
weighed on him. He improved, you know, kind of a
more quiet leader. But I think the work ethic definitely,
(29:36):
you can tell someone guys respect, and he has been
a six year net. It's crazy to say. I think
this is the time, maybe you know, a season or two.
Not quite as good as his age twenty three year,
but a time to buy stock, especially if he gets healthy.
One quick correction from earlier in the episode. I misread
(29:58):
Keon Johnson's minute totals. It's actually about you played two
thousand minutes this year out of about three thousand in total.
I was looking at his field goal attempts, which also
played about you know, two thirds of his career totals
this season.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Nick Claxton not quite the same.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
He has an established you know, he has a fringe
all star year, I thought in twenty twenty three, trying
to get back to those heights. Playing a different role
this year, and Tim kapstro on a different role for
us coming in front of the camera on the podcast.
I hope you've enjoyed your stay in the backcourt.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Yeah, no, not, I really enjoyed it. Any time you
need me, any time, you know, I love talking basketball
with you. And I really love your work. I think
you've been such an incredible addition to the organization in
everything that you do. I keep your notifications on my
(30:55):
phone all the time. I learned how to do that
and very excited about that. And you just pump you know,
all day long. I get pumped up by Lucas Kaplan.
So I appreciate what you're doing. And if you are
a stock god by you too. Man. You got some
feature ahead of you.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Appreciate it. And I don't want to spoil too much.
But after those very kind words, but Caper and I
have a special episode of NETS Film Focus coming for
you guys this offseason, which was a treat. I very
much appreciate you having me on. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
I can't wait for everyone to see it. Can't wait
to listen to you on the call next season. As always,
(31:37):
this has been episode thirty. We reached episode thirty at
the Backcourt. Big shout out to kaeper for joining us.
Shout out to Kean Johnson and Nick Claxton, who I
had a great time covering this season. We will certainly
have much more for you this offseason, the draft, free agency,
trade season, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Is always crazy.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
We're recording this the day before the New York Liberty
raised their twenty twenty four banner home opener. So basketball
never stops in Brooklyn.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Neither do we. And we really appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
For listening, like rate, subscribe, all that good stuff. This
has been the Backcourt, presented by Ticketmaster.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Thank you, guys,
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