Shawne Williams is still waiting to play his first game as a Net.
Williams came to the Nets, along with Kris Humphries, who is expected to re-sign with the team today, in the trade that sent forward Eduardo Najera to the Mavericks during the 2009-10 season, but Williams was released without ever playing a game for the Nets.
Then, after resurrecting his career with the Knicks last season, the 6-foot-9 forward signed a two-year deal with the Nets last week and practiced with the team for the first time Friday.
But Williams missed Saturday’s preseason opener in Newark against the Knicks due to a bout with the flu that he has yet to recover from. Nets coach Avery Johnson said yesterday Williams was scheduled to visit the doctor again and his status for Monday’s opener against Washington is unclear.
“We’ll have to see,” Johnson said. “If we get him back [tomorrow], which would be the earliest, [we would have] two or three or four practices, depending on our practice schedule, and be ready for a game? I’m not sure. That’d be pretty adventurous.”
* Johnson said the same starting five from Saturday’s game — Deron Williams, Anthony Morrow, Damion James, Shelden Williams and Brook Lopez — will start tonight against the Knicks at the Garden. Instead of holding practice yesterday, the Nets spent the day working with the team’s strength and conditioning staff.
* The Nets waived guards Jerry Smith and JamesOn Curry, allowing them to return to the Nets’ D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor. Both players were called up from the Armor before training camp began, and were long shots to make the roster.