SAN DIEGO — With an all-new coaching staff in Brooklyn, Noah Clowney will be looking to make an impression, and state his case for playing time going forward.
Injuries will ensure he gets that chance, sooner rather than later.
The 20-year-old is assured of playing significant minutes in Tuesday night’s preseason opener against the Clippers, and will most likely be in the starting lineup at center.
“Yeah. Also, I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing during the summer,” Clowney told The Post. “I’ve been working during the summer. So, I think they see me in Summer League, things like that. You’re obviously always open to making a good impression of any chance I can.”
Starting center Nic Claxton and backup center Day’Ron Sharpe are both out for the preseason opener with hamstring issues, with no clarity on how much time Sharpe could miss after not even traveling to the California leg of training camp.
It has left the door cracked for Clowney.
One source said he looked “great” in open runs, and he’s been a standout in camp.
“Noah, he’s getting better, man. He’s getting real good,” Dorian Finney-Smith gushed of Clowney. “He’s getting real good. You know, the game is slowing down for him. That tends to happen in your second year after you get some bump. He’s shooting the ball a lot more, and with a lot more confidence. So, again, he’s going to have a great year. He’s been getting better all summer.”
Finney-Smith is the player who Clowney could vie most with for time at power forward this regular season.
But in the preseason, he’ll open at center with both Claxton and Sharpe sidelined.
“Yeah, like I said last week, his summer has been very, very good. We’re very happy [with] where he’s at right now,” new coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Obviously he’s going to play minutes in these preseason games. And he’s fighting — like all these guys are fighting — for starting spots, they’re fighting for minutes in the rotation. They’re fighting for a contract, they’re fighting for a two-way.
“So all that fight — all that competitiveness — is very important for us. And that’s what I want him to do, is keep working. Don’t settle as a kid that we expect a lot from him. And so far, his attitude, his work, everything has been excellent.”
The No. 21 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Clowney was up and down from the G League as a rookie.
But he forced his way into the rotation down the stretch, averaging 13.5 points, seven rebounds and 2.2 blocks in the final six games.
The last four of those games were starts, with Clowney averaging 10.5 points and 6.5 boards.
He played alongside Claxton as a stretch-four, but struggled in his lone start at center.
The fifth-youngest player in the league last season, Clowney got roughed up physically in a 107-77 loss to Sacramento on April 7, where Fernandez had been the lead assistant at the time.
Clowney had just seven points and finished minus-26, while Kings center Domantas Sabonis dominated with 18 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists and a couple of blocks.
But the Clowney who’ll start Tuesday’s preseason opener is stronger, bigger and — the Nets hope — better.
Clowney hit a middling 36.4 percent from 3-point range as a rookie, but has gradually gained more confidence from deep.
He shot 8 of 17 in those last six games and 39.3 percent in Summer League, when he was one of the best players in Las Vegas.
Now on Tuesday he’ll get another extended look at experienced, veteran players.
“Same game, truthfully,” Clowney shrugged. “Different players, different scout. They’ve got experience. But it’s the same game, honestly.”
While Clowney’s improved shooting will be key to him eventually being able to play alongside Claxton, the 20 pounds he’s packed on will be key when he stands in at center, like Tuesday.
Seven-foot, 240-pound Ivica Zubac, who started the Clippers preseason opener, will provide a tough test.
But acing it would leave a good first impression.
