At his end-of-season press conference, Nets general manager Billy King said Brook Lopez was scheduled to meet with doctors this week, and would resume workouts if everything went well.
So, sure enough, when the first day of the Nets’ NBA Draft combine was completed yesterday at the team’s practice facility, Lopez was out on the court shooting jumpers.
“Brook’s making good progress,” King said. “He was in here [Friday]. … It’s great anytime you have guys in the gym, but it’s also good to see Brook shooting on the court.
“He was shooting a lot of 3-pointers,” King said before adding with a smile, “I told him, ‘Get in your range’ and he took a step back.”
King said the 7-footer was on schedule in his comeback from foot injuries that derailed his season, limiting him to just five games. King also said Lopez is allowed to shoot, but isn’t allowed to do any running and jumping at this point.
Yesterday’s availability marked the first time King spoke to the media since his headline-grabbing trip to Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month to watch the EuroLeague Final Four, where he spent time with both star point guard Deron Williams and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
“I was able to watch the Final Four, see some good games, obviously saw Deron there, saw Mikhail there,” King said. “It was a good trip.”
Before King left for Istanbul, he said the purpose of his trip was to meet with Bojan Bogdanovic, the Nets’ second-round pick last year who played for Turkish league power Fenerbache Ulker. King had tweeted during his trip he had a good meeting with the 6-foot-8 Croatian swingman, something he reiterated yesterday.
“He’s anxious to come over here and play,” King said. “In due time, we’ll talk about his contract and see if we can get him out [of it]. He’s anxious to come over here and play.
“He has NBA League pass, and watched all our games. He’s as anxious as he was on the day we drafted him.”