CLEVELAND — Nic Claxton and Ben Simmons haven’t started together so far this season.
And it doesn’t sound like it’ll happen until Simmons makes it happen, until he plays so well that Nets coach Jordi Fernandez has no choice but to start him.
“I’m looking forward to it. We’re both two high-level basketball players. We’ve just got to be aggressive, and the coaches have put us in the right positions to make everything work,” Claxton told The Post. “Obviously, it’s going to work on the defensive end, and we’ll work everything out on the offense side.”
That offensive side has been the fly in the ointment throughout Simmons’ career when pairing him with a traditional non-shooting big man.
His lack of an effective jumper makes floor spacing a concern, and the lack of time the duo has gotten together because of injuries has kept them from working to iron out the issue.
“The motto in the NBA is shooting, but it can work,” Claxton told The Post. “You’ve got to be putting pressure on the rim at all times, and you do have to have other shooters around so there is some type of spacing. But it can work.”
A hamstring injury cost Claxton the entire preseason and left him ramping up in the early season while coming off the bench, with Simmons getting the nod at center.
But Claxton rejoined the starting lineup three games ago, with Simmons — still on a minutes limit — now serving as his backup.
That minutes limit and not being cleared for both ends of back-to-backs saw Simmons held out Saturday in Cleveland. It also contributed to him being on the bench late in Friday’s loss at Boston.
“The reason [he sat] was with the minutes [restriction] that he has … and not being able to play back-to-backs right now. This way we don’t have to switch the starting lineups all the time; that affects the rest of the group,” said Fernandez, who could have a call to make Monday at New Orleans.
“I know for some people, the fact that you start, you don’t start [matters]. But I saw him out there doing what’s best for the team, helping his team, and I’m very proud of him the way he played. … What I want is these guys to play so well that they put me in a tough spot so I have to change the lineup again, because we need that internal competition to raise the bar and for the team to be better. So I want all those guys to not be satisfied … play as well as you can, so you can make a case to start, and then the team will benefit from it.”
After Simmons had told The Post that he views himself as a starter, Fernandez made it clear that he — like every other Net — has to earn that.
“For the flow of the team, whatever the team needs me to do in terms of whether it’s coming off the bench or starting, I’ve got to do. So, that’s what coach wants right now. It is what it is,” Simmons said.
Asked if he expects to come off the bench the rest of the season, Simmons shrugged.
“I try not to expect anything in the NBA. Things change all the time.”
After Simmons sat out Saturday, he and Claxton have logged just ten minutes on the court together, a plus-9 in that limited time.
But they were minus-51 in 99 minutes together a year ago, and questions about spacing will persist until either they’re on the court together enough to answer them or it becomes clear that Fernandez is going to continue to split them up.
“They both bring different skill sets individually, but when they’re together I think it’s great for us because we get a tall guard handling the ball, pushing in transition. And then Nic doing what Nic does, getting on the rim,” Cam Thomas said. “I feel like it’s a good combo and obviously they both do great things for our team. So we’ve just gotta figure out how to keep playing with each other.”
