Noah Clowney says he played his role beside Brandon Miller, will showcase more in NBA

The Brooklyn Nets decided to add some size and versatility to their team last Thursday at the NBA Draft when they selected Alabama forward Noah Clowney with the No. 21 overall pick.

Clowney was a key contributor on Alabama’s impressive squad last year that finished the season with a 31-6 record. That team was obviously headlined by SEC Player of the Year and No. 2 overall pick of the draft Brandon Miller, but because of that, Clowney believes that he has a lot more to showcase at the next level.

“I think I’ve got a lot more to my game than what people have seen, but obviously I was playing with Brandon and we didn’t need me to be another star on that team,” Clowney said. “So I played my role to help us win and that’s really all there was to it. But I think there’s a lot more to my game that wasn’t seen that can be seen later on.”

Miller may have been the engine of Alabama’s offense last season, but Clowney was able to make an impact in various ways throughout the season. He ranked third on the team in points per game averaging 9.8 per game and ranked second in rebounding averaging 7.9 boards per contest.

He shot an efficient 48.6% from the field in his lone season with the Crimson Tide, finding himself scoring in double figures in 17 of his 16 games played last season, which were all starts.

Clowney will need to improve his efficiency from behind the arc and from the free throw line, shooting 28.3% from three-point range and 64.9% from the free-throw line. But his length at 6-foot-10 presents a ton of upside and versatility on the defensive end of the floor, which paired with his production as a rebounder could translate very early in his NBA career.

The Nets did also select Kansas forward Jalen Wilson, a high-volume scorer that joins others like him already in Brooklyn like Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson, each of which averaged around 20 points per game last season in their respective spots.

Clowney was used to being a role player during his time with Alabama and can likely play in a similar role for the Nets. But it will definitely be interesting to see if and how Brooklyn will utilize some of his more unseen skills during his rookie season with the team.