Deadlines and Commitments - Doldrums (or not) edition

The Draft is done. Summer League is done. Free agency appears to be done. So what’s a Nets fan to do? Get ready for vacation of course ... and prepare for some early morning FIBA World Cup games featuring Team USA (Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson) and Team Egypt (Patrick Gardner)! That’s what!

And we should all root, root, root for the home team, the New York Liberty who are off to their best start in franchise history at 18-6! They’re barely past the WNBA season’s halfway point. The league finals won’t take place till October.

The Nets still have a few roster spots that need filling — one standard NBA deal, one two-way and four camp invites. They can also extend Spencer Dinwiddie’s deal if they want starting next Monday. And of course, the NBA regular season schedule will be released in mid-August. But for the most part, the action for Nets fans will take place in Manila, the capital of the Philippines where both Team USA and Team Egypt will be playing.

So here’s your handy calendar for the rest of the summer and into the regular season.

—August 3 - Team USA opens its camp in Las Vegas in preparation for the FIBA World Cup in SE Asia. Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson will represent Brooklyn along with two of Bridges’ Villanova teammates, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart from New York’s other team. USA Basketball also fields a practice squad of young NBA players. Camp will run from August 3 through 6 with a scrimmage against Team Select next Sunday.

—August 7 - Spencer Dinwiddie eligible for an extension of up to four years and $128 million. That’s quite unlikely, but Ian Begley of SNY has reported there are some in the Nets organization would like to extend Dinwiddie, if not at that number.

—August 7 - Team USA goes up against the Puerto Rican national team in Las Vegas, the first “friendly” of the World Cup cycle. Game time is 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

—August 7 - WNBA Trade Deadline, 8:00 p.m ET.

—August 11-12 - Hall of Fame ceremonies in Springfield, Mass. Among the honorees: Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Dwyane Wade.

—August 11-13 - Team USA plays Spain and Slovenia in the Spanish Basketball Federation’s 100th anniversary tournament in Malaga, Spain. Lots of NBA players on all three squads. Times TBA.

—August 15 - WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship game.

—Mid-August - NBA releases 2023-24 schedule. The list of games of interest has to include Kevin Durant’s return with the Phoenix Suns, Kyrie Irving’s return with the Dallas Mavericks, Joe Harris’ return with the Detroit Pistons, Patty Mills return with (checks notes) yes, the Atlanta Hawks. A list of other fun games would include Victor Wembanyama’s first game at Barclays Center and the four Knicks dates. Barring injury, the Nets eighth game of the season will be Bridges 400th consecutive game. (Last year, the schedule was released on August 17.)

—August 17 - Egypt with Patrick Gardner manning the post will go up against Lebanon in Abu Dhabi, UAE in an exhibition game. Team USA will also be in town for their own friendlies.

—August 18-20 - USA Basketball Showcase Abu Dhabi, UAE. The U.S., Greece and Germany will face off in the Persian Gulf country as Bridges, Johnson et al make their way from the U.S. to their first World Cup game in Manila.

—August 25 - September 10 - FIBA World Cup opens in Southeast Asia. Egypt will get an early start, playing Lithuania at 8:30 a.m. ET on the 25th. Team USA plays its first game vs. New Zealand the next day, starting at 8:40 a.m. ET. The two teams will play their group games on alternating dates that week with Egypt playing Montenegro on August 27, the USA playing Greece on August 28, Egypt playing Mexico on August 29 and finally USA taking on Jordan August 30. All of the two teams’ games will be played at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, making it convenient for Sean Marks and whoever accompanies him to scout them all. Depending on how teams do in group play, they’ll move on to the second round. Per the Sporting News, the tournament will feature a total of 92 games, all of which will be broadcast on ESPN2 or ESPN+ in the United States. FIBA’s official streaming service, Courtside 1891, and Sling TV also offer a streaming option.

Nets stash Nikola Milutinov will start at center for Serbia with Nikola Jokic deciding to opt out of Cup play after winning the NBA championship. Adam Caporn, the Nets assistant and director of player development, is an assistant with Australia.

—August 28 - WNBA Player Playoff eligibility determined.

—August 31 - Last day for NBA teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2023-24 salaries.

—September 1 - Original date Sean Marks set for Ben Simmons to be ready to go. “The timeline for this is that he’ll be back 100% probably by September 1,” said Marks on April 23. “That would be the goal and he’s a full-go in training camp and ready to go.”

—September 4 - Labor Day. Players begin arriving at HSS Training Center for workouts but the World Cup players will still be in Asia ... unless their teams have been eliminated.

—September 5 - Last day for teams to issue required tenders to unsigned second-round picks, aka stashes; those players become free agents on September 6 if not tendered.

—September 10 - FIBA World Cup champion is crowned in Manila. Any team making the Final Four in Manila will have played nine games in a little more than two weeks, not counting the “friendlies.”

—September 10 - WNBA Regular Season ends

—September 13 - WNBA Playoffs begin. The Liberty currently are the No. 1 seed in the East.

—October 2 - Nets Media Day. Don’t expect as many national media as have attended since 2019 following the Clean Sweep. It will be mostly a local affair.

—October 3 - Opening of Nets training camp at HSS Training Center in Brooklyn. Probably around October 6, the Nets will head out to Las Vegas ... again ... for their first preseason game. It will have been home to Summer League, the WNBA All-Star Game, Team USA training camp by then.

—October 9 - Nets play their first preseason game vs. Lakers in Las Vegas. It and a game in Miami are the only preseason games we know of ... and that’s only because the Lakers and Heat got an early start on releasing their preseason schedules.

—October 18 - Nets play Miami in a preseason contest vs. the Heat. Preseason coverage also TBA.

—October 20 - Last possible WNBA Finals date. Finally a parade??

—October 24 - Opening Night. Opponent and venue still TBA. Darius Bazley’s contract becomes partially guaranteed at $200,000 if he makes the Opening Night roster.

—November 3 - The first “Tournament Night” in the new NBA Cup competition. Group play will begin on November 3 and last through November 28. Every Tuesday and Friday (other than Election Day on November 7), teams will play a game vs. each of the other teams in their group, with two of the games at home, two on the road. The Nets group includes the Celtics, Bulls, Magic and Raptors.

—First week of November - Long Island Nets opening night.

—December 15 - Darius Bazley contract is guaranteed up to $700,000.

—January 10, 2024 - All non- and partially guaranteed contracts become fully guaranteed.

—January 11, 2004 - NBA Paris Game. Nets vs. Cavs at Accor Arena in the City of Lights. Coverage still TBA.

—February 6, 2024 - 20th anniversary of NetsDaily. Hooray for us.