The Nets are in the playoffs for the third straight year — and their first with the “Big Three.” As the regular season winds down, there’s a lot to look forward to playoffs, the Draft, free agency, etc. That goes for Joe Tsai’s WNBA team as well. The Liberty open their regular season next month just as the Nets are ending theirs.
So hear ya go...
—May 2 - Mike James 10-day expires. League rules permit teams to extend 10 days another 10.
—May 14 - New York Liberty return to New York City and make their Barclays Center debut at 7:00 p.m. vs. the Indiana Fever. Still awaiting capacity and ticket information.
—May 16 - Regular season ends with Jarrett Allen’s return to Brooklyn.
—May 17-to-21 - Play-in tournament for 7-to-10 seeds. The Nos. 7 and 8 seeds need to win win once to stay in playoffs; Nos. 9 and 10 need to win twice to move up. Important in that with Nets high up in the East, their first round opponent will likely emerge from this tournament.
—May 19 - New York State ups capacity on indoor arenas from 10 percent to 25 percent.
—May 22 - First-round of playoffs begin.
—May 30 - Deadline for an early entry player to apply for this year’s Draft (11:59 p.m. ET)
—June 7 - Conference semifinals begin.
—June 21 - 27 - Draft Combine scheduled. Again no location set.
—June 22 - NBA Draft Lottery 8:30 pm. ET
—June 22 - Conference Finals begin.
—June 22 - Publication date for Matt Sullivan’s book, “Can’t Knock the Hustle: Inside the Season of Protest, Pandemic, and Progress with the Brooklyn Nets’ Superstars of Tomorrow.” Expect excerpts, expect news.
—July 8-22 - NBA Finals with latest date for conclusion July 22.
—July 19: Deadline for an early entry player to withdraw from the NBA Draft. 5 p.m. ET
—July 23-August 8 - Tokyo Olympics open. Nets have SIX players in the Team USA pool, the “Big Three,” Blake Griffin, Joe Harris and DeAndre Jordan. Spencer Dinwiddie has committed to Team Nigeria. But they and other NBA players may be otherwise occupied. WNBA goes on an Olympic break to accommodate national team commitments.
—July 29 - NBA Draft, 8 p.m. ET. Nets currently hold the 27th, 42nd, 51st and 59th picks. Will it return to Barclays Center, its home from 2013 through 2019 or continue to be virtual as it was in 2020?
—July 31 - Deadline for Dinwiddie player option, Qualifying offer deadlines for Reggie Perry and Bruce Brown Jr.
-—August 2 - Teams can begin negotiating with free agents 6 p.m. ET.
—August 6 - NBA free agency. Teams can begin signing free agents at 12:01 p.m. ET. Lots of decisions. Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Tyler Johnson and Blake Griffin will al1 be free agents. The Nets and Nic Claxton can also open negotiations on an extension beyond the end of his three-year rookie deal that ends in 2021-22. The most the Nets can offer in an extension is four years, and about $50 million. Expect Team Claxton to wait till the end of 2021-22 when he’ll be a restricted free agent.
—September 17 - New York Liberty regular season ends.