A DOUBLE FEATURE
Nets want chance for Lopez, Lin to play together
Another trade deadline has come and gone, and Brook Lopez is still a Net.
Lopez was seen as Brooklyn’s top asset going into Thursday’s deadline, but general manager Sean Marks opted to deal away Bojan Bogdanovic and hold on to Lopez — partly to evaluate the 28year-old center playing alongside oft-injured point guard Jeremy Lin.
“I saw [Marks] earlier, and I didn’t hear anything. But he was wondering where [newly acquired Andrew Nicholson] was,’’ Lopez said with a gallows-humor chuckle. “I’m not sure what time [the deadline] is. So, you know, we had a good practice and I’m ready to get on that plane.”
The Nets want to see Lopez on the court with Lin, expected to return Friday in Denver. The point guard has been limited to just a dozen games this season because of hamstring woes, with Marks and coach Kenny Atkinson not getting enough of an opportunity to properly assess the duo on the court together.
“You’re absolutely right, to have a healthy Jeremy and a healthy Brook out there together with this team, it’ll be nice to evaluate that,’’ Marks said. “It’s something we started the season off with, and unfortunately, we only got a handful of games under our belt seeing that. So, this will be nice. We all know what those two bring to the table: They lift everybody else’s play.
“I’m not even going to comment [about interest in Lopez]. Brook is here, and we’re happy he’s here. He’s been the face of this franchise for a long time. We’re obviously excited to have him and to have Jeremy healthy and go at it the rest of the season and see where that goes.”
After the Nets went into the All-Star break at 9-47 and riding a 14-game losing skid, Lopez and his Nets are now looking forward to the rest of the season as a reset.
“We’ve been going through the season as what it is,” Lopez said. “But I don’t think anyone’s quitting or anything like that. We’re going out working to improve every night. … We have a lot of young guys, but our guys realize the business side of the league.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity just to come out and set the tone in our first game. … If we just reset and take this first game, new mini-season and start off on the right foot.”
This is the start of the Nets’ annual “Circus Trip,” which begins a stretch of eight straight road games.
“I asked Randy Foye, ‘Is this the longest trip of your career?’ ” Marks said. “He said ‘I think it is, 16 days is quite a trip.’ Listen, I’ll just be happy if our young guys pack the right stuff and have enough clothes for the trip.
“No, we know it’s a tough trip, we’re playing a lot of good teams. It starts with Denver. That’s how I look at it as a coach. We have to look at each game singularly. If you look at the totality of it, it can be a bit intimidating. So, we’ll take it in segments and go at it that way.”
Most teams would dread a 16-day marathon trip, one that’s just a single game shy of the club-record nine-game trek last season. But for the Nets, the All-Star break was a welcome respite, and this trip could be a much-needed reset.
“It’ll be good for our guys to bond over this long trip,’’ Lopez said. “We want to start off on the right foot, give ourselves a good chance to do something out West. [It’s a] great chance for us to do something.”