Injured Mikel Brown Jr. can’t wait to play. But he might have to. The rookie is the biggest key to Brooklyn’s rebuild.
That’s why his rehab and return have to be right, not rushed.
Brown rolled his left ankle last week and has gotten back out on the court on a limited basis in practice. But as of Thursday, he hasn’t been cleared for contact.
“Yeah, as of right now they’re just telling me you could get back moving a little bit, really just trying to get the strengthening it up back,” Brown said. “I mean, I am back on the court moving. That’s all I’m really worried about right now. I’m just taking it one step at a time.”
Brown said the Nets training staff hasn’t told him exactly what the next step is. He wouldn’t exactly call patience his strong suit, but he’s learning.
“I feel like I have no choice but to be patient,” Brown said with a wan smile. “I want to be out there so bad, but they’ve just been emphasizing to me, ‘Let’s take our time with this stuff and get you back 100 percent,’ which me, I’m trying to play as soon as possible. So really just attacking this rehab, focusing on stuff that I can control.”
The Nets open the preseason Tuesday in Charlotte and have offered no clarity on the severity of Brown’s injury or his timeline.
Brooklyn also has three other preseason games before the regular-season opener Oct. 21 in Brooklyn against the Hornets. When asked if he expects to get at least some live action in the preseason, Brown was non-committal.
“I mean, that’s up to the performance staff,” Brown said. “I’m just doing what I can to get back on the court as of right now.”
When asked to pick out who has impressed him the most since camp started or who has taken a step forward, Michael Porter Jr. pointed out Keon Ellis.
“Keon has been hooping these first [few] days,” Porter said. “He plays the right way. He plays defense. He can really shoot the ball, and he’s been just overall very solid.”
Porter and Julius Randle have been playing on different sides so far in camp, kept separated by Jordi Fernández.
And they didn’t play together Thursday, with Fernández switching things up and going no-contact to rest his players’ legs before a lot of playing Friday.
“When you’re tired, you can lose it easily. And [Thursday] being a non-contact session and a session that it’s more mental with the film and the walk-throughs and installing new things, your brain needs to be there,” Fernández said. “It was very positive like an active recovery where you still need to advance. … It was a great day. And then [Friday], it’s going to be a big high-load game day with a lot of playing. with a lot of playing. And players, they love to play, so they’re excited about tomorrow.”
