Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris is reportedly progressing from the foot soreness that has sidelined him for most of the first preseason game.
Harris played in the Nets' Oct. 3 preseason opener — a 127-108 loss to a short-handed Philadelphia 76ers team — then began exhibiting soreness in his left foot. He has been out since that game and is not expected to play in Friday’s preseason finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves, though Harris is optimistic he’ll be available for the team’s Oct. 19 regular-season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN.
Harris said the foot soreness was expected after getting on the court for the first time following two left ankle surgeries last season and that he’s looking forward to continuing his rehab and on-court work in the coming days, according to ESPN. Harris sprained his ankle on Nov. 14, underwent arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 29, then underwent a second and season-ending procedure on the same ankle in late March.
Harris’ absence is important not only because it is a continuation of the injury that cost him — and the Nets — all of last season, but because the Nets are also without sharpshooter Seth Curry, who has missed the entire preseason after offseason ankle surgery and whose status is uncertain for the season opener against the Pelicans.
Curry, along with Harris, accompanied the Nets on their two-game road trip, but he still hasn’t been cleared for five-on-five drills, according to ESPN. Curry is hopeful to play in the season opener but wants to see how his ankle responds to heightened training first.
With both Harris and Curry out of the rotation, new signing Royce O’Neale has been playing with the starters. Training camp signing Yuta Watanabe has also played — and shined — in minutes on the wing.
Simmons laughs at clip
A viral clip of Ben Simmons air-balling a jump shot wide left at Sunday’s Nets Practice in the Park caught the star forward’s attention.
Simmons said he believes he deals with so much outrage from fans because “people know what I can do — what I’m capable of.”
“I believe that’s what it is,” he told ESPN. “Like if I was somebody that wasn’t capable of doing certain things, I don’t think people would be on my ass as much. And I don’t mind it because it kind of motivates me in a way. Obviously, sometimes it’s a lot for anybody to deal with that, but I look at it a little bit like a respect thing, in a way.
“Because if that wasn’t the case then I wouldn’t have ... there would be no upside to me doing something well. If I come out and play a great game then you can’t say anything, you know? But it’s a part of it. That’s why it’s kind of cool being on a team with these two guys [Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving] because they’ve been through different things in their careers, where they can kind of relate, because their names always — something’s going on with everybody’s name here. I take it for what it is.”
