This has been a typically turbulent offseason for the Nets, something that’s become a routine tradition since Mikhail Prokhorov purchased the team in 2010.
But while the drama surrounding the departures of Jason Kidd and Paul Pierce and the arrivals of Lionel Hollins, Jarrett Jack and Bojan Bogdanovic has garnered most of the headlines, the most important factor in whether the Nets will be successful next season — Brook Lopez’s recovery from right foot surgery — has progressed under the radar.
There is good news on that front, however. Lopez has been cleared to begin working out after undergoing season-ending surgery in January.
“I don’t think you’ve seen anyone this side of a 4-year-old girl so happy to jump rope,” Lopez told The Post with a laugh in a phone call from Moscow, where he spent several days — as well as making a trip to Perm for the opening of a refurbished basketball court — with his twin brother Robin, a center for the Trail Blazers.
And so far, so good for Lopez, who said that while he’s easing back into working out again, he’s experienced no setbacks so far.
“It’s going great. I was cleared about a week-and-a-half now. It’s just been really ramping it up from there. Obviously you don’t start playing games immediately, but it’s been about getting my conditioning back, and getting back into shape.
“I’m not playing basketball, I’m not running sprints or anything like that yet. I’m still building it. I’m cleared. … I can go full-bore, but there’s not any rush.”
Lopez said he hadn’t had any discussions with the Nets yet about any potential restrictions next season, including any minute limits or sitting out parts of back-to-backs. He also said he thinks he’ll be able to participate fully in training camp when it begins in late September.
“Like I said, we’re not rushing anything,” Lopez said. “I would say we would shoot for earlier than that if we could, but there’s no reason to.”
Lopez was basically the only bright spot for the Nets through the first two months of last season, averaging 20.7 points and shooting over 56 percent from the floor in 17 games before his season came to an end when he suffered his latest fracture of the fifth metatarsal on Dec. 20 in an overtime loss to the 76ers.
But, if he returns to full health, Lopez will undoubtedly be a key component during the Nets’ first season under Hollins. The two had breakfast in Orlando shortly after Hollins was hired, and Lopez came away excited about what he heard from his new coach. Hollins forged his coaching reputation in Memphis as a strong defensive coach who ran a precise offense that heavily featured his two talented big men, power forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol.
“It was good to get to talk to him,” he said. “We talked about what we expect going into next season, what he expected from me, and I think we’re both excited.
“I know he expects a lot from his players, and I’m prepared for that.”
Hollins’ arrival, of course, was preceded by Kidd’s sudden departure, just a year after he’d been hired to run the team. At this point, though, Lopez is used to coaching changes. Hollins will be the seventh coach Lopez will have had in his career — including interims — as he enters his seventh season in the league.
“You know, the offseasons always involve a lot of changes for me,” Lopez said with a laugh. “This is something like my [seventh] coach going into my seventh season, so it takes a lot.”
Lopez also admitted he was surprised by the loss of Paul Pierce, who signed with Washington last month.
“I don’t know whose decision that was, but it was a great pickup for Washington,” he said. “I think they definitely became a lot better by getting Truth.
“[But] from our end, we aren’t focusing on what we lost. We’re still bringing a great core back. We’ve added a lot of pieces as well and we have to focus on what we do have.”
And after the moves the Nets have made this summer, Lopez said he’s most excited about the hiring of Hollins.
“I’m very happy with that,” he said. “Watching the way he ran his teams in Memphis, I’m excited to get to work with him.”
This was Lopez’s second trip to Russia, with the first coming back in 2010 after the Nets were purchased by Prokhorov earlier that year and made a quick stop in Moscow on their way to playing preseason games in China. While he enjoyed getting a chance to spend more time in the country, after spending a little less than a day in Moscow during his last trip, Lopez said he enjoyed seeing lots of Nets gear on his travels.
“The coolest thing probably for me is just playing for the Brooklyn Nets, and kind of seeing how the Brooklyn Nets are kind of the hometown team out here in a way,” he said, though he didn’t see Prokhorov or any of the other Nets’ Russian officials during his trip.
“Obviously with the Russian ownership and with [Andrei Kirilenko] playing with us, there’s a big following out here, so there’s a lot of Nets supporters. It’s cool to be able to walk down the streets of Moscow and Perm and be able to see people wearing Nets gear.”