What If Nets Lose Nic Claxton in Free Agency?

The Brooklyn Nets are hoping to re-sign center Nic Claxton to a big contract when free agency negotiations begin at 6 p.m. ET on June 30.

If the team doesn't sign him and he's poached by a rival, it could unlock Brooklyn's biggest fears.

"Claxton, an unrestricted free agent and one of the best young defensive centers in the NBA, will have a few suitors to choose from," Bleacher Report writes. "The Detroit Pistons will have around $65 million in cap space this summer, with Claxton one of the players the franchise could heavily pursue, according to The Athletic's James L. Edwards III. With no notable cap space to sign a replacement as good, the Nets may have to give Claxton $25 million a year or more on a new deal so they don't lose him for nothing."

Given the fact that the Nets don't have control of their draft picks until 2028 and the team doesn't have a solidified direction, Claxton has turned into a necessity for the franchise. That will allow him to drive up his value in free agency.

Claxton is almost in "blank check" territory, where he can basically force the Nets to pay him close to a maximum deal, and Brooklyn would have reason to sign him. The Nets don't have many young players with potential like Claxton, so if he were to walk in free agency, it would only send Brooklyn back even further.