The Brooklyn Nets are just a few games into their 2024-25 campaign, but that is not stopping them from planning for the future. Second-year forward Noah Clowney and guard Dariq Whitehead are still proving their worth to the Nets. Nevertheless, the team made decisive roster moves on the duo.
The Nets have exercised the third-year team options on Clowney and Whitehead for the 2025-26 season, the team announced, per Erik Slater of ClutchPoints.
Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead are Brooklyn's 2023 first-round draft picks. The Nets selected Clowney at No. 21 and Whitehead followed him at No. 22. Both young players have shown promise to Brooklyn, but they still have growth to make.
Outside of his time spent in the G League during the 2023-24 season, Clowney enticed the Nets with standout performances with Brooklyn down the stretch of the year. The former Alabama standout amassed 10 points, seven rebounds, and a whopping seven blocks in the Nets' 106-102 April 11 win over the Toronto Raptors. He was one rejection away from tying the Nets' franchise record for most blocks in a game by a rookie.
Meanwhile, Whitehead caught Brooklyn's attention with the elite potential he displayed as a high school National Player of the Year, All-American, and his impressive lone season with the Duke basketball program. Whitehead has dealt with injuries that have prevented him from fully showing what he can do, but the Nets' training and development staff are getting him on a promising trajectory.
Nets' moves signal their strategic talent development
If the Nets wanted to, they could have let Clowney and Whitehead walk in free agency ahead of the 2025-26 season, but the team values the two former first-round picks. Brooklyn wants to see how Clowney and Whitehead develop to figure out if they can become building blocks of the rebuild.
Before the start of the season, Sean Marks revealed the Nets front office's basis for who will go and who will stay for the team's next phase. He mentioned that the organization is looking for players who can be a part of the team for the next two to three years, or longer. A large factor in whether or not a player will remain with the team is their development.
Clowney and Whitehead have time to improve their games, but the clock is ticking.
Through his first three games of 2024-25, Clowney averages 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds on a 33.3 percent three-point shooting clip. Whitehead has appeared in one regular season game with Brooklyn but will also be spending time playing with G League Affiliate Long Island Nets.