Jarrett Jack became the Nets’ starting point guard this summer when they jettisoned Deron Williams.
But Jack won’t be starting for the Nets when they face the Bulls in Wednesday’s season opener at Barclays Center, after he was ruled out for the game because of a sore left hamstring. Jack has missed the past four practices because of the injury.
“I want us to be ready to play, I want us to be excited to play, I want us to be as ready as we can,” Nets coach Lionel Hollins said. “But, win or lose, it’s still just one game, and our season will continue.”
Without Jack, the Nets turn control of the offense over to Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan. Larkin, who signed with the Nets for roughly half the taxpayer’s mid-level exception after spending last year with the Knicks (and getting ripped by Phil Jackson for his “tiny hands,” among other things, on his way out the door), averaged 9.2 points and 3.4 assists in five preseason games.
Sloan easily beat out Ryan Boatright for the team’s third-string point guard job after averaging 7.3 points and posting 14 assists against just three turnovers in his three preseason games.
Nets general manager Billy King said the Nets wound up making the decision to cut Justin Harper and Dahntay Jones because Andrea Bargnani and Markel Brown recovered from injuries in time for the opener.
“A lot of it is just health,” King said. “Wanted to see them practice and make sure they were ready to go before making the final moves.”
Though the Nets would’ve had several healthy wing players whether Brown was healthy or not, Bargnani’s status played a much bigger role in determining what the Nets would do with Willie Reed. After giving Reed a $500,000 guarantee this summer, the now-frugal Nets didn’t want to move on from him after making that financial investment.
Chris McCullough is out indefinitely as he recovers from February surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee and Reed is out for at least the next month after tearing a thumb ligament, so the Nets only have four healthy bigs. The fact Bargnani, who missed the entire preseason with hamstring issues, could practice allowed them to cut Harper and keep Reed.
Bargnani isn’t a picture of health, however, having played just a combined 71 games the past two years because of a series of injuries. King said that didn’t play a role in the final roster shaping.
“I look at it as we had everybody healthy and ready to go, and if something changes, you make that decision,” King said. “I don’t think you make a decision based on the history and say, ‘You have to do this.’ The way the league is going, people play small, so we’ll make adjustments accordingly if people do get hurt.”