Nets fans got the opportunity to watch the team practice Saturday, albeit at Barclays Center, rather than at a Brooklyn park, due to the inclement weather.
A few key players were unable to participate in the workout, most notably backup point guard Dennis Smith Jr. — who wore a walking boot to protect his sprained left ankle — and starting power forward Cam Johnson.
Smith will miss “at least a week,” according to Nets coach Jacque Vaughn, while Johnson could be held out of the remaining preseason games due to a hamstring issue.
“Cam Johnson. That’s the last piece,” Vaughn said after the public practice. “I think at some point he’s really progressing. Maybe he joins practice at some point this week. Not sure about the game situation. I’m going to be extremely cautious. I’d rather have him available that first [regular-season] game versus Cleveland [on Oct. 25], then to try to speed him along and play him in a preseason game.
“But [he’s had] no setbacks, which is good, and heading in the right direction.”
The Nets have two preseason games remaining, Monday against the 76ers at Barclays and Wednesday at the Heat, before a week off ahead of the start of the 82-game slate.
Big men Nic Claxton (sore glute) and Day’Ron Sharpe (sprained ankle) also did not practice, and Vaughn classified them as day-to-day.
Lonnie Walker IV practiced in full after leaving the exhibition victory Thursday over Maccabi Ra’anana with a wrist injury.
Smith had been used as the point guard on the second unit, so being in a walking boot would appear to put the start of the season in jeopardy for the former Knick.
The 25-year-old dealt with similar issues with his left ankle last season with the Hornets before he signed with the Nets as a free agent in July.
“He’ll definitely be out at least a week,” Vaughn said. “Precautionary with the boot, so he’s got some support as he walks around.
“It’s definitely an ankle sprain, and he’s got some bone bruising in there, as well. So we’ll see a week from now, what he looks like, but luckily I think [there is] no ligament damage. So we’ll take that.”
Johnson averaged 16.6 points over 30.8 minutes per game in 25 appearances last season after his arrival from Phoenix in the Kevin Durant trade.
Similarly to the Knicks’ take-it-easy approach with nicked-up guard Josh Hart, the Nets believe there is no rush for Johnson to dress for preseason games.
That duo played together for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup over the summer.
“The only thing we miss out of that is the combination of him playing with our group,” Vaughn said. “So that’s the only piece, but we got enough games to try to build that. It’s more important for him to be injury free.”
Vaughn added that he has been pleased with the team’s play and overall approach through the first two preseason games. The injuries have allowed him to take a longer look at different combinations, even in practice.
“I think overall, I’ll say yes, because of the fact that they are accepting of us trying to figure out how we want to play on both ends of the floor,” Vaughn said. “So that piece of it is encouraging.
“They’re open to new ideas and how we are going to figure this thing out together. So overall I think our approach to practice has been good, but I will always kind of ask them [what they think].”
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