Noah Clowney’s offseason transformation draws praise entering pivotal campaign with Nets

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Noah Clowney’s offseason transformation draws praise entering pivotal campaign with Nets

Erik Slater, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Mon, Sep 29, 2025 ·

4 min read

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The post Noah Clowney's offseason transformation draws praise entering pivotal campaign with Nets appeared first on ClutchPoints .

The NBA offseason offers players an opportunity to identify and address their weaknesses. For Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney, step one was building a body prepared to match the physicality of the league's big men.

Clowney appears to have taken a significant step in that regard. The third-year forward packed on muscle this offseason, weighing in at 234 pounds after playing last season at 220-225.

"Just been eating and staying in the weight room," Clowney said. "You gain weight as you get older; it's natural. But I just turned 21, so I don't really have the grown man weight yet. So everything I got right now, I've been forcing it."

Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez was highly complimentary of Clowney's offseason regimen.

"He looks great, and credit to him and the work he's put in the whole summer," said head coach Jordi Fernandez. "He looks like a grown man at just 21 [years old]. I'm excited. Excited to watch him play real games… He's done a great job. His ability to shoot, his size, and getting better at playing off two feet in the paint, limiting turnovers, and fishing better at the rim. Those things are important for him."

Brooklyn hopes that the 21-year-old's offseason work will translate to the court.

Where Noah Clowney must improve during third season with Nets

Clowney, the No. 21 pick in the 2023 draft, has shown promise as an NBA-caliber shooter. He shot 39.1 percent on 5.0 three-point attempts per game over his first 23 appearances last season before suffering several ankle injuries . However, his struggles as a ball-handler, decision-maker and finisher were glaring.

Clowney attempted just 21 percent of his shots at the rim, ranking in the sixth percentile among NBA big men, per CleaningTheGlass. The 6-foot-10 forward shot 58 percent on those attempts, the third-worst mark among all big men to play over 1,000 minutes.

Clowney feels his added bulk will help him as a driver this season.

"The main thing was being able to get to the rim efficiently and being efficient when I get there. I think I've improved in that aspect a lot, but we haven't played any real games, so we don't know yet," Clowney said of his on-court focus this offseason. "[The added weight] will help, being able to get to my spots where I want to go and get to two feet. Being more of an enforcer when I'm driving the ball rather than trying to get around people. It'll be helpful."

Playing off two feet in the lane has been a primary emphasis for Clowney, whose added bulk should help him create space. For a bigger player still learning how to put the ball on the floor, that added patience is a challenging, but necessary, skill to develop.

"If you think about it, a lot of our players have been top athletes all their lives. When they get to this level a lot of them think they're just going to go to the rim, jump and finish," Fernandez said. "Challenging centers in the best league in the world is not necessarily a good thing… A lot of times, the best finishers are guys that have never been that gifted [athletically] early on in their careers, and they had to find a way to play and to be better decision makers who finish when they have the advantage.

"I think it's part of the process. We as coaches need to figure that out. So, it's a good challenge for us. I think our players are buying into it, and we want to be a better finishing team, because last year we were a poor finishing team."

In addition to his finishing, Clowney will also need to improve as a passer and decision-maker. He totaled just 40 assists with 46 turnovers across 46 appearances last season.

"I just don't want him to overthink it. It's not that complicated. Just go out there and play. He puts the time and work into it. And I'm gonna let him make mistakes, as long as the intentions are good," Fernandez said. "I don't want him to be, like, trying to analyze everything. Just [make] simple reads. Right now, he's been doing a very good job of being efficient with his dribbles and then being under control and on balance once he has to make the decision to kick it or finish it. So keep it simple, go out there, don't overthink."

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