Haven't done one of these in a while, but with either the playoffs --or season's end-- staring us in the face, it's time. There's a lot of possibilities and they range from opportunities to calamities. And it's going to hit us all real soon. Suffice it to say that the guy in above picture has his work cut out for him.
April 15 -- Last Day of 2014-15 Regular Season. This is the day the Nets luxury taxes will be calculated. Currently, the number is around $20 million. The Nets would like to reduce that total over the summer ... and ultimately get as close as possible to the tax threshold by this time next year ... and avoid the repeater tax.
April 18 -- 2015 NBA Playoffs begin.
April 26 -- NBA Draft Early Entry Eligibility Deadline (11:59 p.m. ET)
May 11-12 - NBDL Elite Mini-Camp (Chicago) After this weekend's Nike Hoops Summit in Portland, where Team USA faced off against Team World in a high school age game, and last week's Portland Invitational Tournament, for college seniors, the camp is the third early scouting opportunity.
May 13-17 -- Chicago Pre-Draft Combine. It starts with interviews, then measurements, 5 x 5 workouts and finally medical tests by NBA doctors. Sixty prospects will be put through their paces, but every year, someone near the top decides not to participate.
May 19 -- 2015 NBA Draft Lottery. If the Nets don't make the playoffs, the swap between the Hawks and Nets could make for a miserable evening. Since the swap has no protection, if the Nets are in the lottery and move up, the Hawks will get their pick.
May 26-29 -- Nets will conduct Pre-Draft Workouts at their training facility. It will be the last workouts held in the facility with the Nets moving to the HSS Training Facility at summer's end.
June 6-8 -- Adidas Treviso Euro Camp, held just outside Venice, Italy. The Pre-Draft Combine for overseas --primarily European-- players. Same drill -- interviews, measurements, 5 x 5 workouts, medical tests.
June 15 -- NBA Draft Early Entry Withdrawl. Underclassmen have until today to return to school. But if they have hired an agent, their eligibility is done.
June 22 - Thaddeus Young must decide on a player option by this date. If he does opt out, he will be an unrestricted free agent. But with national TV money going to flood the system in 2016, leading to much bigger deals, he's likely to stay.
June 25 -- 2015 NBA Draft. The Nets have two picks, the Hawks' first round pick at No. 29, and their own in the second round, which should be mid-40's. Don't be surprised if the Nets buy a pick in the second round to find a Euro who can be stashed and developed for a year or two. No word yet on where it will be held. The last four drafts have been held in the Nets home arena, two at Prudential Center, two at Barclays Center.
June 29 -- The two other Nets with player options must decide whether to stay with Brooklyn another season or try their hand in free agency. The two are Brook Lopez and Alan Anderson. They can either stick around another year and reap the big salaries the new national TV rights contracts permit, or seek longer term deals now. The current thinking is that Lopez will opt out and that Young will not. No word on Anderson.
July 1 -- The Nets can talk to free agents, but can't sign them. Unless things change, the team will again be limited to the mini-MLE of around $3.4 million to sign free agents. And if Lopez opts out, then they will have to make a decision on how much they want to spend to keep him. Expect the first rumors of signings on July 2. Biggest deals get revealed first. A lot of this is in the works even now.
Those Nets with expiring deals become free agents as well. Mirza Teletovic becomes a restricted free agent meaning the Nets can match any offer. Jerome Jordan becomes unrestricted free agent. Four Nets have non or partially guaranteed deals: Earl Clark, Darius Morris, Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson. In the case of Brown, his contract goes from non-guaranteed to partially guaranteed on July 1. He will receive $100,000 if he's still on the roster which is highly likely. Cory Jefferson will $75,000 on July 15. Each month they stay on the roster, they get a bigger guarantee until September 29, when they become fully guaranteed.
July 9 -- Official free agent signings begin. Lots of players sitting at tables signing papers filled with many zeros.
July 4-10 -- Orlando Summer League, the first of two summer leagues where the Nets will field a team, opens at the Magic practice facility. Ten teams are expected to participate, including one of unsigned D-League players. Expect Brown, Jefferson, Xavier Thames, the 59th pick last year, as well as draft picks and those players the Nets scouted and liked but didn't get drafted.
July 10-20 -- Las Vegas Summer League. For the first time since 2008, the Nets will field teams in two summer leagues. The Vegas league has more teams and its games are open to the public. (Road trip?). Free agents can switch teams, playing for one team in Orlando and another in Las Vegas.
July 24 - European national teams will gather at training camps for Eurobasket 2015. Bojan Bogdanovic will play for Croatia and Mirza Teletovic will play for Bosnia, if doctors permit. Sergey Karasev won't be able to play for Russia. He is already out with his knee injuries.
The actual games start September 5 after a round of exhibition ("friendly") games and run through the championship game on September 20 in Lille, France, That's 10 days before the opening of NBA training camps. Croatia is expected to be a title contender. Two years ago, Bogdanovic made the first team All-Eurobasket. And of course, the Nets could draft or sign other Europeans.
Late July/August -- Teams fill out their rosters with mostly vets minimum deals.
October 1 -- Training camp opens, hopefully at the new $50 million HSS Training facility on 39th Street in the Industry City section of Brooklyn, finally ending the team's 38-year tenure in New Jersey. Thames has said he's been invited. Who knows who else will be there to pick up their jerseys.