Net so fast!

Nash on Kyrie-less team: ‘We got a long way to go’

Pump the brakes on those parade plans. Hold off on anticipating any June celebration.

The Nets may be considered the preseason favorite despite the potential season-long absence of Kyrie Irving, but they enter the year very much a work in progress.

“There’s expectations and pressure and honestly, we got a long way to go,” head coach Steve Nash said following practice Saturday in Brooklyn. “I feel like we’ve been on the court [together], practices and games, probably like 15 times. So this is the type of thing that’s going to take a long time for us to be a finished product.

“But can we get out to a decent start? Can we play at a decent level to start? Can we manage some of the shortcomings of a short camp early and a lot of new players? Guys still trying to get into conditioning? That would be great.”

The team the Nets finished last season with in June was vastly different from the one that will take the court Tuesday against the Bucks to open this season. Irving, due to his refusal to comply with New York City mandates and get the COVID-19 vaccine, might not step on the floor all season. LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap and Patty Mills were the Nets’ most notable roster additions.

The depth of this roster, behind superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden, certainly seems improved, but it could take time for the new pieces to mesh. So much is new and the early schedule is challenging, starting with an opening week that features games against Eastern Conference powers Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

The biggest adjustment will be how to replace Irving’s irreplaceable production. Some of that could fall on Mills, the 33-year-old veteran who inked a two-year, $12 million deal in the offseason and was initially being counted on to be a super-sub. More could be asked of Joe Harris or newcomer Jevon Carter, who impressed during a preseason in which he averaged 10.8 points. No one player, though, will be able to replicate what Irving provided with his elite shotmaking, creativity and overall offensive prowess.

“Kevin is Kevin and James is James and Joe is Joe,” forward Blake Griffin said. “But the guys who support them, myself included, we have to just do our job and do it better.”

One positive to this dynamic is the Nets have had a good portion of training camp to prepare for this, since the organization decided on Monday he wouldn’t be part of the franchise until he is able to be a full-time member of the team. The overwhelming story of the past few weeks was whether the Nets would allow Irving

to play only on the road or would take a hard line with him, as they did. The controversy might have adversely impacted a less experienced team.

“I think somebody younger might’ve been more distracted, but guys have been locked in,” Aldridge said.

The uncertainty surrounding Irving, and the newness of this roster, haven’t stopped experts from installing the Nets as early favorites to win the NBA title. Hall of Fame player and Turner Sports analyst Reggie Miller and former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday the Nets remain their pick, as long as Durant and Harden are healthy. And entering the season, the Nets are the picture of good health, even if Nash said a lot of players are still working themselves into top condition.

“[We’re in a] privileged position. I have good players. People think highly of us, but we got to earn it,” Nash said. “We gotta prove it every day. Obviously we’re down a man, so everyone has got to step up.

“We have the whole year that we gotta try to come together to find solutions to our deficits, find solutions to our weaknesses and continue to grow and put ourselves in a position where we can compete for a championship at the end of the year.”