Deadlines and Commitments - Reality replacing hope edition

It’s not over till it’s over. Yogi Berra taught us that. But that said, here’s a calendar for the the off-season and a little bit into the 2022-23 season. It won’t salve wounds or offer hope. It simply is what it is, a calendar.

Also, the New York Liberty will start to fill the void at Barclays Center (and in Joe and Clara Wu Tsai’s hearts) in the next few weeks.

—April 25 - Game 4 - EC Playoffs - Nets vs. Celtics, Barclays Center. Ben Simmons debut as Net?

—April 27 - Game 5 - EC Playoffs - (unfortunately if necessary) Nets vs. Celtics, TD Garden, Boston

—April 29 - Game 6 - EC Playoffs - (if necessary) Nets vs. Celtics, Barclays Center

—April 30 - Game 7 - EC Playoffs - (if necessary) Nets vs. Celtics, TD Garden

—April 30 - WNBA preseason: New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics at Barclays Center. Game time is 3:00 p.m.

—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, get measured and subject themselves to interviews.

—May 17 - NBA Draft Lottery 2022. No effect on Nets (Thank God).

—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 1 - Nets must inform the NBA and 76ers whether they will use the 76ers first round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft or postpone it till 2023.

—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 rounder, the No. 23 pick. 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 with Detroit. They could, in theory, get back into the Draft by using one of their FIVE trade exceptions, ranging in size from $1.3 million to $11.3 millin to take on another team’s unwanted player in a salary dump and compensation in the form of a pick or picks.

—June 29 - Player option deadline for Patty Mills, Kyrie Irving, team option deadline for Kessler Edwards, David Duke Jr. and Nicolas Claxton. Irving can opt in to a $39.3 million one year deal and postpone negotiations on a longer deal for a year or he can wind up with a five year, $248 million extension. 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 outside the salary cap. They will retain his rights.

—June 30 - Deadline for Nets to extend Nic Claxton for up to four years, $55.6 million. If not, he becomes a restricted free agent the next day.

—July 1 - Start of the 2022-23 free agency. Nets free agents include Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Nic Claxton, Bruce Brown, Goran Dragic and David Duke Jr. Nets will be able to match any team’s offer for Claxton, Brown and Duke. 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. The Nets have their $6.0 million taxpayer MLE to sign a player. Such contracts usually have a second year paying out a slightly higher salary.

—July 6 - Seth Curry is eligible for a two-year extension but the Nets are limited in how much they can give him then, two-years at $17.4 million. He is under contract through next season. Extension would kick in after that.

—July 7 - Traditional date by which NBA teams must pay the luxury tax. Per Spotrac, Nets tax bill is $97.7 million, second highest in the NBA after the Warriors and the highest ever for the Nets, topping the $90.6 million Mikhail Prokhorov paid in 2014. Back in August, the tab was $130 million. In February before the Harden trade, it was $110.4 million.

—July 7 - Joe Harris is eligible for a three-year, $77.5 million extension starting in 2024-25.

—July 10 - WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago.

—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 to acquire Seth Curry in the trade deadline deal with Philly. That deal, like others, was broken into pieces.

—August 11 - Ben Simmons is eligible for a two-year extension worth $88.1 million, starting in 2025-26

—August 11 - Seth Curry can now be extended for four years and $58 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. At some point, Nets must guaranteed the second year of Kessler Edwards deal.

—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 element of the 76ers trade expires.