Deadlines and Commitments - End of season edition

Twelve games left in this most disappointing of seasons. Barely above .500, the Nets are a sure thing for the play-in tournament after a long haul of injuries, illness and vaccine hesitancy. Not to mention the trade of an unhappy superstar. Now, time is of the essence. The Brooklynites have to bring it or wind up one of the most disappointing teams in recent NBA history. Yeah, them and the Lakers.

—Late March - Traditional time for G League MVP announcement. Craig Randall II of Long Island Nets has to be a top contender, He’s averaging 26.9 points per game, second in the league and is first in both minutes played and 3-pointers.

—April 2 - NBA G League Regular Season ends.

—April 2 - Last regular season game Kyrie Irving is eligible to play — vs. the Hawks in Atlanta. It’s the only one of the last eight games he’s eligible to play.

—April 5 - NBA G League Playoffs begin. Long Island Nets currently in fifth place in the East and in playoffs. Six teams qualify in each conference. It would take a major collapse for the Long Islanders to miss the post-season.

—April 7 - Opening Day, Major League Baseball. Why is this here? Because a number of Yankee and Mets stars are unvaccinated and unless they get the shot — or the city ends the private employer mandate, they won’t play. The mayor has said he’d like to see things work out. It’s the last best hope for Kyrie Irving to get back on the court in New York (unless Eric Adams decides to end the private employer mandate only for outdoor workers.)

—April 10 - Regular season concludes vs. Pacers at Barclays Center. Luxury tax bill based on payroll at end of regular season.

—April 11 - Rosters set for NBA Playoffs 2022 (3:00 p.m. ET). Kessler Edwards will have to be elevated from a two-way to a standard NBA deal if the Nets want to play him in the post-season. Consider it unlikely.

—April 11 - WNBA Draft. Liberty have the fifth and 29th picks. Here’s the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report.

—April 12-15 - NBA Play-In Tournament for teams finishing seventh through tenth seeds. Nets currently are in eighth place, four games out of sixth — the last guaranteed playoff spot — and only a game ahead of ninth.

—April 16 - First round of NBA Playoffs begin.

—April 17 - WNBA training camps open. Liberty will have a new coach in Sandy Brondello to push what’s likely to be a top-flight roster.

—April 22 - WNBA preseason begins.

—May 2-3 - NBA Conference Semifinals begin (possible move up to April 30/May 1)

—May 7 - New York Liberty opens 2022 schedule vs. Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center. Game time is 6:00 p.m.

—May 16-22 - NBA Draft Combine (Chicago). Top 60 draft candidates are invited to show their skills and measurements.

—May 17 - NBA Draft Lottery 2022. If Nets finish out of the playoffs, their pick, traded to Houston in the original James Harden trade, becomes a lottery pick.

—May 17-18 - Conference Finals begin (possible move up to May 15-16)

—May 31 - 20th anniversary of New Jersey Nets first Eastern Conference title ... and NBA Finals. Glory Days.

—June 2 - NBA Finals begin. Just wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ and plannin’ and dreamin’.

—June 19 - Game 7 of NBA Finals (if necessary)

—June 23 - NBA Draft. The Nets currently have Philly’s first, now No. 25, but it’s been dropping as 76ers win. Sometime before the Draft, the Nets will have the option to move the pick forward to 2023. No word yet on that deadline. Whether used in 2022 or 2023, the pick will be unprotected. Nets currently have no second rounders, Nor do they have cash considerations to buy a pick. They exhausted all of what the league permits teams to use in trades — $5.8 million — in the DeAndre Jordan salary dump.

—June 29 - Player option deadline for Patty Mills and Kyrie Irving as well as qualifying offer deadline for Kessler Edwards, David Duke Jr. and Nicolas Claxton. QO’s permit Nets to make them restricted free agents. Irving can opt in to a $39.3 million one year deal and postpone negotiations on a longer deal for a year. Mills may very well opt out. He has proven he’s worth more than the $6.2 million salary he’ll receive unless he opts out. He can re-sign with Brooklyn, of course.

—July 1 - Start of the 2022-23 free agency. Nets free agents include Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Nic Claxton, Bruce Brown, James Johnson, David Duke Jr. and Kessler Edwards. Claxton, Duke and Edwards will likely be restricted free agents (see above), meaning Nets can match any offer. Seth Curry can be extended beyond next season when he’ll make $8.5 million.

—July 5 - First day free agents can sign or re-sign.

—July 7 - Traditional date by which NBA teams must pay the luxury tax. Nets current tax bill is $95.5 million. Back in August, it was $130 million. In February before the Harden trade, it was $110.4 million.

—July 10 - WNBA All-Star Game

—August 7 - The Nets $3.6 million Traded Player Exception generated by the Spencer Dinwiddie trade expires, one year after Dinwiddie trade to Washington. TPE had originally been $11.45 million but Nets used $8.1 million.

—August 19 - The Nets $6.27 million Traded Player Exception generated by the DeAndre Jordan trade expires, one year after Jordan trade to Detroit.

—October 6 - The Nets $1.3 million Traded Player Exception generated by Sekou Doumbouya trade expires, one year after Doumbouya trade to Indiana.

—October 31 — Team options on Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe. Easiest decision of the year.

—February 10 — The Nets new $11.3 million Traded Player Exception generated by the James Harden trade expires.

—February 10 — The Nets $1.7 million Traded Player Exception generated by the Paul Millsap trade expires.