Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney is heading into his fourth NBA season as the Nets are still rebuilding, but still looking for the opportunity to shift the goal towards competing for a playoff spot. Brooklyn has invested plenty of capital in the past four NBA Drafts and with Clowney being eligible for his rookie-scale extension, it's fair to wonder what the case would be for keeping him around.
"If Brooklyn wanted to give him [four years and $40 million] and just continue down the road, I guess I would get it. I think he's better than Zeke Naji, I would say at least," Sam Vecenie of The Athletic said of Clowney on his "Game Theory" podcast. As of now, the Nets could go in a number of different directions depending on how they feel about him heading
into this upcoming campaign and beyond.
"So I don't think you're going to run into that problem, but I haven't seen enough from Clowney yet to where I go, this is definitely a guy that helps you win in high-leverage situations," Vecenie continued. "Even though I do see the ceiling for Brooklyn, too. I can see a world where Noah Clowney is an effective basketball player. It's just like he hasn't [been to this point].
Clowney, 22, is coming off the best season of his three-year career as he averaged 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 39.6% from the field and 32.9% from behind the three-point line. As the NBA world recently saw when the Houston Rockets extended forward Amen Thompson for five years and $208 million, Clowney could've signed a massive extension.
But, as Vecenie alluded to, the former Alabama Crimson Tide star could be looking at a contract similar to Denver Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji. When Nnaji was eligible for an extension, the Nuggets signed him to a four-year, $32 million contract. If Vecenie believes that Clowney getting four years and $40 million would be reasonable, that could be something that the Nets are willing to do.
Clowney and Brooklyn has until right before the regular season begins to sign him to a rookie-scale deal so it will be interesting to see what happens once training camp and the preseason gets underway.
"I haven't seen enough from Clowney yet to where I go, this is definitely a guy that helps you win in high leverage situations. Even though I do see the like ceiling for Brooklyn"
— NetsKingdom 👑🗽 (@NetsKingdomAJ) September 7, 2026
via @Sam_Vecenie on a potential Noah Clowney extension pic.twitter.com/aDcoDxn5Eq
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: What is the case for the Nets extending Noah Clowney's contract?
