Noah Clowney remains one of the youngest players in the NBA. Just turning 21 this summer, Clowney is younger than half the players taken in the 2025 NBA Draft. He also bulked up significantly this summer, his body
only enhancing his potential, potential first seen when he burst on the scene at the end of the 2023-24 season, hitting threes and blocking shots, often in spectacular fashion.
Since then, it’s been mostly crickets as his game, despite near unanimous praise of his work ethic this summer, has been quiet so far this season. No worries says his head coach.
“He had a great summer, his body looks great,” Fernández said after practice in Brooklyn Friday. “Obviously, we want him to have a bigger impact as far as making things happen, [but] I’m very happy [with his play].”
But Clowney’s numbers have been rough as The Post’s Dan Martin wrote Saturday:
Through five games, the Nets’ third-year forward has scored just 5.2 points per game and hit only 25 percent of his shots (3-for-8 from inside the 3-point arc, and 7-for-28 from outside the arc, both down from a year ago).
While Nets fans were expecting a break out, Clowney seems to have taken a step back. Fernandez thinks some of the disappointment can be laid on his shooting but the second year head coach thinks the shots have been fine, but missed. He was asked specifically about Clowney’s 1-of-7 shooting vs. the Atlanta Hawks.
“I felt like he played very well,” Fernández said. “Just good shots didn’t go in. The shots looked really good.”
Nets development has taken a hit the last few weeks. Brooklyn waived Dariq Whithead, taken one slot after Clowney, and the Cam Thomas controversy calls into question where the 27th pick in the 2021 Draft will ever play for the Nets again after his contract, a qualifying offer, expires in July … if not sooner.
So Clowney reaching his potential would give the Nets a nice lift particularly since their five rookies — three of them teenagers — have mostly struggled, not surprisingly.
On the offensive end, the head coach’s advice to the player is simple: “Just keep shooting it,” Fernández said he told Clowney. “Don’t overthink it.”
Defense, though, is where the real disappointment has come, as Lewis notes.
“I just need him to be better defensively and he embraced it,’’ Fernández said. “Last game, he was better.”
Bottom line from the head coach: “We need Noah. Noah is a big presence for our team. [He has] toughness, size, shooting, rebounding [and] winning plays. We need more verticality and he’s a big part of doing that.”
- Nets not ready to sound alarm on Noah Clowney’s slow start – Dan Martin – New York Post
