Six months after becoming a free agent, Damion James returned to the Nets yesterday and felt as if he’d never left.
“I feel like I never missed a beat,” the forward said after signing a 10-day contract with the Nets prior to their 97-86 victory over the Pacers last night at Barclays Center. “[It’s] still the same plays and the same scheme, so I came here this morning and fit right in.”
James, who did not play last night, was acquired by the Nets in a draft-night trade in 2010 after the Hawks selected him with the 24th overall selection, but the 6-foot-7 forward spent most of his first two seasons sidelined by issues with his right foot. He played in only 32 games over his first two seasons with the Nets, averaging 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds, before the team declined to pick up his option for this season.
“[It’s] 100 percent,” James said of the foot. “It feels great.”
James signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Hawks before the season began, but was cut shortly before the end of training camp. He then spent the season playing for the D-League’s Bakersfield Jam, with whom he averaged 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds.
With starting small forward Gerald Wallace sidelined after suffering bruised ribs in a hard fall early in Friday’s win over the Suns, Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said the familiarity James has with the team’s system should allow him to step in and play right away.
“The thing that Damion brings to us is what he’s always been as a player,” Carlesimo said. “He’s very aggressive, he can really defend, [and] he’s active.”
* Before the game, Carlesimo didn’t set a timetable for Wallace’s return.
“I think it’s safe to say that [athletic trainer Tim Walsh] has been encouraged by how he’s responded,” Carlesimo said. “But you all saw it. That was a bad fall, and he’s very, very sore.
“The problem with Gerald is the one we’re always going to have with him. You ask him how he is, and he says, ‘Fine.’ We’ve got to just see what it looks like in there, but it has been encouraging so far.”
* In an NBC Sports Radio interview last night, Stan Van Gundy again poured cold water on any likelihood of him taking the Nets’ head coaching job in the future.
“I just don’t think that’s a place [my family] would relocate to at this point,” Van Gundy said.
* Brooklyn native Lance Stephenson had a brief return to his home borough. The former Lincoln High star started last night, but played only six minutes and missed one shot before leaving with a sore right foot.
Last night’s game was presented as “An Evening of Russian Culture” by the Nets. This included a rendition of the national anthem and a subsequent halftime performance by violinist Alexander Markov, as well as Russian entertainer Oleg Kolomyets introducing the starting lineups in Russian.