Busy, busy, busy. During the next two to three weeks, the Nets will learn how many picks they will have and where they fall; dispatch front office staff to Minneapolis; Chicago; Treviso, Italy: and New York's Chelsea Pier to look at prospects; begin working out players they like at the PNY Center and hear what Gerald Wallace plans to do.
Will they be looking for a top three pick or no first round pick, one (or two) late second round picks or maybe a pick somewhere late first/early second round, courtesy of Mikhail Prokhorov's wallet?
Beyond the lottery, the Nets will learn Friday whether they will have that other second rounder. The Lakers can accept $250,000 for the #60 pick, a leftover from the Sasha Vujacic trade. We hear it's unlikely (and would the last pick be worth an amount roughly equal to the annual budget of the Springfield Armor where said pick is likely to wind up?)
There's also another two-day mass workout in Minneapolis starting May 31. The traditional big workouts are back-to-back: the Pre-Draft Combine in Chicago on June 7 - 8 and the Adidas EuroCamp in Treviso, Italy, June 10 - 12. There will also be D-League Tryouts on June 16 in New York. The Nets will reportedly start individual workouts June 13, the same day Wallace will have to decide whether to opt out, opt in, and/or extend his contract. They're talking.
May 30 - 2012 NBA Draft Lottery, ABC Studios, Times Square, New York City. If the Nets finish #1, #2 or #3, Brooklyn retains the pick. If not, it goes to Portland. A night of tension shared by the front office and fans alike. Nets have 7.6% chance at the overall #1, 25.5% chance at a top three pick. Expect weeping either way. The proceedings will be shown on a big screen in Times Square.
May 31 - June 1 -- Timberwolves Group Workout, Minneapolis. The second of two mass workouts. Nets will attend.
June 1 - Unless the Lakers agree to accept a $250,000 payment from the Nets by this date, the final pick in the draft goes to L.A. As part of the December 2010 Sasha Vujacic trade with the Lakers, the Nets sent the pick, originally a Bulls' pick, to L.A. with the provision that the Nets could retrieve it if the Lakers agreed to accept the $250,000. League source says L.A. is unlikely to go along.
June 7 - 8 - NBA Pre-Draft Combine, where the top 60 prospects are invited, measured, worked out and interviewed as scouts and GM's try to figure out where they fit in the Draft. If the NBA follows last season's script, the first individual workouts --and a few mass workouts-- will take place after the combine's work is done. Milton Lee, who's helped run the combine for six years, will be back again this year.
June 10 - 12 - Adidas EuroCamp in Treviso, Italy. The European equivalent of the Pre-Draft Combine. Expect Nets international scout Danko Cvjeticanin to be there and if there is someone particularly interesting, others from the front office as well. And why not? Treviso is a short train ride from Venice!
June 13 - Although Gerald Wallace says he expects to decide soon on whether to opt out of his $9.5 million, this is the deadline for his player's option. His contract has a deadline prior to the normal June 30 deadline. He can't be signed till July.
June 13 - Nets Individual workouts begin this week, with the schedule and personnel determined by the results of the lottery.
June 16 - D-League National Tryouts in Basketball City on Pier 36, New York. One of four national tryouts around the country. it's part of the D-League Draft process. Dennis Horner so impressed Nets scouts at a national tryout last year that Milton Lee drafted him and he made the big club twice.
June 28 - NBA Draft in Newark. The number and position of the first rounders still dependent on the lottery.. and whether Mikhail Prokhorov is willing to buy a pick, and the Lakers. Don't be surprised if the Nets acquire a mid-round pick now that they don't get the Rockets' pick until 2013. It's already being discussed. The Nets do have the Heat's second round pick, which is #57, and could wind up with the Lakers' #60 pick if L.A. takes the $250,000 discussed above. And yes, you can get value that late. Isaiah Thomas, the Kings staring PG, went at #60 in 2011.
June 30 - Decision Day on player options, early termination options, qualifying offers, etc. Deron Williams has said he will opt out of his last year ($17.8 million). Jordan Farmar ($4.25 million) must decide whether to stay through 2012-13 or become an unrestricted free agent. There are no team options. Also, Gerald Green, Kris Humphries, Shelden Williams, Damion James, Sundiata Gaines, DeShawn Stevenson and Armon Johnson become unrestricted free agents. Nets must tender Brook Lopez a qualifying offer or he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Some front office deals expire as well.
July 1 - Teams can contact free agents and this is often the first day news breaks about free agents' intentions. Teams interested in Brook Lopez can formulate offers which the Nets would have three days to match or lose his rights. For those thinking tours of the Barclays Center might be in order that week, the arena should be looking a lot like a finished product, with the scoreboard and other LED installation nearly complete and seating almost all in place.
July 6 - July 11 - Team USA will train daily at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Deron Williams has been invited and has said he would like to have his contract issues resolved by the Olympics, meaning by this date.
July 8 - Final Team USA roster must be set.
July 9 - July 16 - Orlando Summer League. Who might be there? Draft picks? Bojan Bogdanovic (if signed)? MarShon Brooks and Jordan Williams, if they're healthy and still with the team, will be there. Armor players Dennis Horner and Jeff Foote have accepted. Expect roster to be D-League heavy. You don't play 50 games in the D-League without developing ideas on who's worth inviting.
July 11 - Teams can begin signing free agents.
July 12 - Team USA plays Dominican Republic (Al Horford, Charlie Villanueva and Francisco Garcia) in Las Vegas, then breaks camp.
July 13 - 16 - Team USA training moves to Washington, D.C., concluding with an exhibition vs. Brazil (Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao). Top free agents an Acela ride away.
July 17- 19 - Team USA moves to Europe where it will stay through August 12. First stop is in Manchester, England, concluding with an exhibition game July 19 against Great Britain (Luol Deng, Ben Gordon) at the Manchester Arena.
July 22 - 24 - Team USA celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Dream Team with exhibition games in Barcelona against Argentina (Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni) on July 22 and Spain (Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Jose Calderon) on July 24.
July 27 – August 12 - 2012 Summer Olympics in London. First mens' basketball game is against France at 2:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. ET) on July 29. Deron Williams likely to be only Net playing at the Olympics, unless he leaves, they draft a European in June or acquire and international player like Andrei Kirilenko in July. France did not offer Johan Petro a slot on Les Bleus, its Olympic team. Bojan Bogdanovic's Croatian team doesn't have an invite.
Early August - NBA schedule is released. Nets fans will learn who the team will play in its inaugural game at Barclays Center. Will it be the Knicks?
September 5 - Expected completion date for Barclays Center. Expect a couple of shakeout events in early September. Moved back from August 27.
September (TBD) - Nets new uniform design to be unveiled, just before training camp. Also, like the Nets team identity, expect the design to be leaked.
September 28 - Opening Night, Barclays Center. Jay-Z will open the arena with a series of concerts.
October 1 - Nets training camp opens this week.
October 2 - First sporting event at Barclays, a preseason NHL game between the Islanders and Devils.
October 17 - Arena construction documents list this date as first preseason game at the arena. It will likely be earlier.
October 31 - Opening Night for the Brooklyn Nets, according to those same documents. Arena officials note that this is simply a target date, not set in stone.