Brooklyn played without the quintet in Friday's preseason-ending game against Toronto, but starters Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith are expected to return for Wednesday's regular-season opener in Atlanta.
“Nick is close. We are still aiming for the first game of the season,” said coach Jordi Fernandes. “He's done a good job. He's working hard. So we expect him to play in the season opener.”
Finney-Smith was just resting Friday after taking a nasty spill on his back two nights ago in Philadelphia.
“It's a violent fall. It's not a big deal. It's just a precautionary measure,” Fernandez said. “He's still one of those players who tries to run through walls. I have to tell him to rest because his body hurts.”
Killian Hayes, Dayron Sharpe and Bojan Bogdanovic all missed the entire preseason.
Sharpe and Bogdanovic are not close to returning, while Hayes has an Exhibit 10 contract, which is essentially just an invite to training camp.
In order to keep him in the regular season, the Nets would need to sign him to a standard contract to make room for him.
Amari Bailey and Tyrese Martin are also in Exhibit 10.
The Nets have an open two-way spot.
The Nets need to have their roster compliant before Opening Day, but that would require them to either waive Exhibit 10 or convert it to a standard deal (which doesn't include them) or a two-way deal (Hayes doesn't qualify). be. .
Ben Simmons returned after being absent Wednesday at Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, Cam Johnson replaced Simmons and Claxton as a high-post creator and took on a scoring role against the Raptors after dishing out a team-high six assists.
The veteran wing scored a game-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting in 32 minutes, including 7-of-14 from behind the arc.
Johnson and Finney-Smith have been on the trade block for a while, and have recently been linked to the Lakers.
“We're going to do it all season. I think what we're looking for is compatibility,” Johnson said of his facilitator.
Fernandez agreed, and said Brooklyn is trying to do more of that, too.
“We've changed that position a lot,” Fernandez said. “We put him in splits, so it has to do with the way we play, everyone is replaceable.
“Obviously, if we have big players, it's going to be by design that they're going to go there, but it was also pretty cool. Unfortunately with the players getting injured, we We had to do different things in a different way, and that's what it turned out to be. We produced good shots…and it made our guys interchangeable and ready to catch and shoot. It comes from being.”
Fernandez praised the conditioning and athleticism of second-year wing Jalen Wilson, who started Friday and had 11 points and five boards.
