Deadlines and Commitments - Gathering in Brooklyn edition

The NBA season is now less than two months away. Three Nets are playing in the FIBA World Cup while others are already heading back to Brooklyn. Ben Simmons posted video on Friday from what appears to be his new $13 million apartment at the Olympia overlooking the East River and Lower Manhattan...

Simmons wasn’t the only Nets player announcing his return. Nic Claxton. who’s been working out in L.A., sat courtside Friday night at the Liberty-Sun game at Barclays Center...

Expect everyone but Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Patrick Gardner to start gathering at HSS Training Center as well now that Labor Day weekend is here. It’s the traditional time for players to arrive back in their team’s home gyms. The rookies and a few others have also been at HSS Training Center much of the summer, the vets at what we’ve called training “pods” in Los Angeles, Miami, and Manila.

Training camps don’t officially open for a month, but players will scrimmage, continue to follow their training regimens and in the case of a few of them, get fully healthy. This year, no doubt, they’ll also be following Team USA who still have 10 days left in Manila.

—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.” Everything indicates he is on schedule.” Since then, of course, we’ve had a lot of people — Marks & co., Jacque Vaughn, Mikal Bridges, his agent Bernie Lee, and more than one journalist — raving about his potential on return.

—August 25 - September 10 - FIBA World Cup continues. All of the Team USA and Egypt’s games are played at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, making it convenient for Sean Marks & company to watch all three players and maybe scout some others. As of September 1, Team USA is undefeated and can lock up a trip to the semi-finals with a win Sunday vs. Lithuania who like the U.S. hasn’t lost. Egypt’s big game — maybe its biggest ever — will take place Saturday. A win over New Zealand would secure an Olympic bid next year in Paris.

Nets stash Nikola Milutinov is starting 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 but the Boomers surprisingly fell out of championship play Friday.

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

—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 eight games in a little more than two weeks, not counting the “friendlies.”

— WNBA Regular Season ends.

— Long Island Nets hold two open workouts at the Fieldhouse Sports Complex in Massapequa, N.Y. A $250 entry fee gets you in the door. After that, it’s up to you.

—September 11 - WNBA announces MVP award. Liberty promoting Breanna Stewart with targeted marketing.

—September 13 - WNBA Playoffs begin. The Liberty currently are the No. 1 seed in the East and with a little luck could catch the Las Vegas Aces, No. 1 in the West, giving them homecourt advantage in the post-season.

—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 - Official 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.

—October 9 - Nets play their first preseason game vs. Lakers in Las Vegas. Vegas will have already been home to Summer League, the WNBA All-Star Game, Team USA training camp and WNBA Commissioner’s Cup by then. The new NBA Cup will also be held there in December.

—October 12 - Nets host an international matchup against Maccabi Ra’anana at Barclays Center, the second preseason game.

—October 14 - Tentative date for Practice in the Park, the Nets annual open practice at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

—October 16 - Nets host preseason matchup with the 76ers at Barclays. Will James Harden be there? Will Ben Simmons play?

—October 18 - Nets play Miami in final preseason contest vs. the Heat.

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

—October 21 - Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2023/24 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.

—October 23 - Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (5:00 pm ET). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline.

— Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (6:00 pm ET).

— Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract (such as Ben Simmons) to an extension. An extension-eligible veteran player on an expiring deal (like Spencer Dinwiddie) can still be extended after October 23.

— Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals.

— Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract. This could come into play since the Nets currently have an open two-way spot.

—October 24 - Opening Night vs. Cleveland Cavaliers. Darius Bazley’s and Trendon Watford contracts become partially guaranteed at $200,000 if they makes the Opening Night roster. Same for Harry Giles III?

—October 27 - Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith return to Dallas to face Kyrie Irving and the Mavericks, the first “revenge game” of the new season.

—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.

—November 8 - As long as he’s healthy, Mikal Bridges will play his 400th consecutive game at Barclays Center vs. the Clippers. His current streak, at 392 games, is the longest in the NBA.

—November 10 - Long Island Nets opening night.

—December 9 - NBA Cup finals in Las Vegas.

—December 13 - Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson return to Phoenix for the first time.

—December 15 - Darius Bazley and Trendon Watford contracts are guaranteed up to $700,000. Harry Giles, too?

—December 19-22 - G Lesgue Showcase in Orlando, Fla. All 31 G League teams gather to play and be scouted.

—December 20 - Nets - Knicks rivalry returns to Barclays Center, the first of the four interborough games. The two teams will also play January 23 in Brooklyn.

—December 22 - NBA champion Denver Nuggets make their lone appearance at Barclays Center. (Matt Brooks homecoming.)

—December 23 - Joe Harris returns to Barclays Center with the Pistons.

—January 10, 2024 - All non- and partially guaranteed contracts become fully guaranteed. If either Darius Bazley or Trendon Watford aren’t waived by January 7, they become fully guaranteed.

—January 11, 2024 - NBA Paris Game. Nets vs. Cavs at Accor Arena in the City of Lights. Coverage still TBA other than NBA TV.

—January 25, 2024 - Australia Day, Australia’s national day. Might as well be company holiday for Nets. So many Aussies.

—January 31, 2024 - Kevin Durant returns to Barclays Center with the Suns in a game scheduled for ESPN.

—February 3, 2024 - Ben Simmons returns to Philadelphia. Expect the usual “greetings.”

—February 5, 2024 - Steph Curry and the Warriors come to Barclays Center.

—February 6, 2024 - 20th anniversary of NetsDaily. Hooray for us. Also, Kyrie Irving returns to Barclays Center in a game scheduled for TNT.

—February 8, 2024 - NBA trade deadline (3:00 p.m. ET)

—February 10, 2024 - Victor Wembanyama and Spurs make their debut at Barclays Center.

—February 18, 2024 - NBA All-Star weekend

—March 22-24, 2024 - Barclays Center hosts first round, NCAA Division 1 Tournament.

—March 23, 2024 - The city rivalry switches to MSG for the first of two late season games. The second will take place April 12, the next to last game of the season.

—March 31, 2024 - LeBron James and Lakers come to Brooklyn.

—April 14, 2024 - Last game of the season vs. the Sixers at Wells Fargo Center in Philly.

—July 26, 2024 - Opening Ceremonies, Paris Olympics. Will any of the Nets be on national team rosters?