Nets’ Nic Claxton ruled out vs. Dallas with ankle injury

Nic Claxton won’t play Friday night in Dallas, after the Nets center was ruled out with a left ankle sprain.

Claxton had seven points and seven rebounds in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to Cleveland.

He also missed time during the preseason with a sore glute.

Without Claxton, the Nets will likely turn to Day’Ron Sharpe, who had four points, two rebounds and a pair of blocked shots on Wednesday.

Also on Thursday, the Nets announced they exercised fourth-year team options on Sharpe and Cam Thomas.

Both players are now eligible for rookie-scale extensions following this season, with Thomas set to make just over $4 million next year and Sharpe just under the $4 million mark in 2024-25.

The move to pick up Thomas’ option was widely expected, while Sharpe entered training camp likely needing to prove his value with his defense.

Sharpe was the 29th overall pick in 2021, while Thomas was selected 27th overall in ’21.

Thomas showed flashes of becoming a premier scorer when he became the youngest player in NBA history to put up 40 or more points in three straight games, which he did when the team was in transition after the trades of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

Thomas led a second unit that helped keep the Nets in the game, while the starters mostly struggled.

He’s coming off a promising start to this year, having scored 36 points on 13 of 21 shooting in the team’s one-point loss in Brooklyn on Wednesday night.