The Brooklyn Nets are one day away from opening their season at the Charlotte Hornets, giving everyone a first glimpse of what the team should look like moving forward. Brooklyn, just like everyone other NBA team, is hoping to start a season as close to fully healthy as possible and the Nets will have almost everyone available.
The Nets announced on Tuesday that forward Haywood Highsmith will be the only player out for Wednesday’s matchup at the Hornets. Highsmith is still recovering from knee surgery and recently suffered a setback in his rehab that will keep him out for the next eight weeks, per Brooklyn’s press release regarding the injury.
Highsmith is experiencing swelling in his knee and the Nets will shift his rehab to reduce the swelling so that he can continue getting ready to make his season debut. Aside from Highsmith, every other player on Brooklyn’s roster is available, which is good news considering that two rookies were dealing with injuries earlier in the preseason. Guard Egor Demin, who is recovering from a plantar fascia injury, and forward Drake Powell, who was dealing with knee tendinopathy, appear to be good to against the Hornets.
Head coach Jordi Fernandez said after Tuesday’s practice that the team will be cautious with Demin as he continues to work his way back from the plantar fascia issue. However, he did not provide a minutes restriction for Demin so his amount of playing time could depend on communication between him and the training staff on Wednesday.
Powell appears to be playing without a minutes restriction after returning from his tendinopathy and that’s good news for a Nets team that needs as many players available as possible. On the Hornets’ official injury report, guard Josh Green and forward Grant Williams are out as Green is dealing with a shoulder injury and Williams is still recovering from knee surgery.