Center Brook Lopez practiced for the first time since breaking his foot in the preseason and looked good, coach Avery Johnson and his teammates said...
...Lopez had surgery Dec. 23 to insert a screw in his right foot, in which he had suffered a broken fifth metatarsal bone. The team had said he would be out 6-8 weeks, and Friday marked seven weeks since the surgery. The official injury report said Lopez will be out through at least Thursday’s game in Indianapolis, and his status will be updated Friday. Johnson said there won’t be any more practices before the All-Star break, but said that doesn’t mean Lopez won’t return before the break.
“We’re not ruling anything out,’' Johnson said.
The 23-year old Lopez had played in all 82 games of each of his first three seasons in the league, and averaged 20 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last season on 49.2% shooting from the floor. Without Lopez, Deron Williams and the Nets have stumbled to an 8-21 record this season.
Rumor has it that the Nets would desperately like to trade Lopez for Dwight Howard, but at this point they’d probably be just as happy with some solid production out of their young center, because if the Nets don’t turn things around somehow before the season ends, Williams will almost certainly leave the team this off-season.
