First looks for 2020-21 come Sunday night at Barclays Center, as the Brooklyn Nets tip off their two-game preseason slate against the Washington Wizards at 6 p.m.
The opener comes less than a week after NBA teams began holding their first group workouts, and with Brooklyn’s season-opener due just nine days later on Dec. 22.
“I think for tomorrow it's going to be more of a see how everything fits together,” said Jarrett Allen. “It's almost like the test trials where you just try and piece everything together and see how certain things that you've been planning in the offseason work against an actual different team and just try to come together and see where we are.”
It has been a shorter offseason for some, a longer one for others, and an unusual one for all. After March’s leaguewide shutdown, a shorthanded group of Nets reconvened in July for the return to action on the NBA Campus in Orlando, plugging in several additions to fill out the roster. Aside from that, and for those who were unable to join the team, players sought out safe situations to work out in, and many gathered in Los Angeles for regular pick-up games to stay sharp.
These full-strength Nets feature the returns of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, plus newly acquired Landry Shamet and Bruce Brown. Tyler Johnson fits somewhere in between, having joined the Nets for the first time over the summer.
Sunday night will be the first glimpse of all of it.
“We realize it doesn’t matter about the wins and losses in this particular situation, so it’s more so about going out there and getting a feel for the game and speed, how we want to play as a ballclub, especially for the guys who didn’t go to the bubble, haven’t been on the court for going on eight months,” said Taurean Prince. “I think it’s a lot of excitement for everybody individually, but a lot of excitement for everybody as a ballclub. It’s going to be a night to look forward to tomorrow, for sure.”
Also new, head coach Steve Nash. Nash said earlier in the week he wasn’t concerned with building out season-ready rotations for Sunday’s game. But he does anticipate finding minutes for many if not all of the players active and dressed for the preseason opener, and potentially carving out 20-plus minute nights for those expected to play significant minutes when the regular season tips off.
“The priority for us is always going to be how we defend,” said Nash. “So, if we continue to build, give effort, buy-in and connectivity on the defensive end, that’s first and foremost. I want to see how it goes, how it looks, what combinations work well together, what rotations are possible, things like that. There’s something in almost all categories that we want to get out of the game, but not necessarily other than the defense. You know, a super emphasis on any of them. We just want to continue to build with everything we do, but defense would be the priority.”
Nash’s first preseason is an unusual one with the compressed schedule. Over the past two weeks, Nash has stressed adaptability and flexibility with the season’s circumstances, and that extends to how he’s prepared the team for this first preseason game.
“I think you have to make some decisions,” said Nash. “You can’t get everything in and be in shape in this quick of a preseason, so you have to kind of prioritize some things, and we were heavy on the prioritizing the physical loads and demands and trying to take a longer, more gradual approach with getting the details down because I think the No. 1 thing is health and sustainability for our players so getting them in shape and trying to err on that side as kind of a methodology going into camp is important to us.
“So, this is going to take a long time for us. We’re going to hopefully play good basketball out the gates, but hopefully be a work in progress and be refining throughout the year and growing, getting better the whole time. It’s a new group. It’s a very different world and we’re adapting and adjusting to so many things on the fly here that we have to be patient. At the same time, we’ll set high standards and demands in the way we approach it, but it’s going to take time for us to come together and see who we really are and start to grow a collective personality and look and feel and that’s fine. That’s a fun process and I think our guys have started on the right foot, and we’re enjoying that process collectively because guys are playing so hard with great attentiveness and energy.”
KD AND KYRIE HAVE GOT NEXT
While Nash said that Caris LeVert is out for Sunday’s game and day-to-day with a contusion, he said Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are in and expected to start along with Spencer Dinwiddie, Joe Harris, and DeAndre Jordan.
“It’s a lot of excitement going on in the building,” said Prince. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work, especially seeing those guys come back from certain injuries, seeing them in the gym putting in a lot of work, so we’ve been working hard not only for ourselves but to be there for our teammates who we know have big debuts coming up. That’s the importance of having your brother’s back and being there for those guys, as well as them being there for us through this journey and allowing us to feed off them and get better.”
“The vibe I'm getting from practice is everybody's ready,” said Allen. “We had (Irving) and (Durant) sitting out for a lot of these games last year and finally to have them back we're ready to do big things with them and we're all excited.”
EMPTY SEATS
Sunday’s game is also the Nets’ first step into a new world — playing without fans in an NBA arena.
Nine current Nets have the experience of playing in the fanless environment on the NBA Campus in Orlando last summer, but those gyms weren’t built to hold crowds of close to 20,000 people.
“I think that's going to take an adjustment,” said Allen. “We've seen what the bubble looked like. We had four walls around us on every side. We kind of felt enclosed like we're in a smaller practice gym. But going into one of those just big arenas where you're used to looking up and seeing people yelling and seeing people, just families having a good time it's going to be an adjustment.”
“If you’ve ever played in the G League you’ll be fine,” said Prince. “There’s not many fans in those types of situations either. So, it’s controlling what you can control. We know what the situation is going to be like. So that won't really be a situation where we're surprised. Think it’s going to be more like an open gym feel. Just being able to be locked-in and still focus on what needs to be done.”
Prince has had exactly that experience, and the most direct comparison to what the Nets are about to see, having been assigned to the Long Island Nets briefly during their inaugural season in 2016-17, when they played their home schedule at Barclays Center with no public ticket sales, and only small groups of friends, family and staff on hand.
But it’s also an unusual way for Nash to make his coaching debut.
“Coaching with or without fans will be different for me at this point,” said Nash. “I’m pretty green. Obviously, I have a lot of history and experience with the game and the league, but actually sitting in that seat is going to take a little bit of time to get used to it whether there’s fans or no fans. But it’s a shame that it just happens to be that way and we’re in a global pandemic and we’re not going to have fans. That’s the right call until we’re able to have fans. So, we have to live with that.”