Nets' James Harden, Paul Millsap and Jevan Carter clear COVID-19 quarantine

James Harden and veterans Paul Millsap and Jevon Carter have cleared COVID-19 quarantine, so the Nets expect to have enough healthy bodies to meet the eight-man minimum roster requirement to play the Lakers in their nationally-televised Christmas Day game from Los Angeles.

At the same time, Nets coach Steve Nash said the team will be missing the energy of rookies Cam Thomas, Kessler Edwards and David Duke Jr., all of whom he said have entered health and safety protocols, which is what triggered the postponement of their scheduled game Thursday in Portland. Those three brought the total number of Nets who have entered health and safety protocols to an NBA-high 13 players.

When he spoke to the media on Thursday, Nash said the players in health and safety protocols largely are asymptomatic. "I think there’s probably been some symptoms, but nothing to report, really," Nash said. "So kind of a non-issue as far as symptoms go.

"We have enough to play. I think we signed four G-League guys, so we have plenty to get to eight."

Nash said the Nets plan to fly to Los Angeles on Friday and play the Lakers the next day on Christmas. They also are scheduled to face the Clippers on Monday in Los Angeles before returning home for seven of their next nine games.

Describing how the Nets handled their COVID-19 outbreak, Nash said, "We had to shut everything down just out of precaution. But once we got back to a cadence, healthy guys could do one-on-0 workouts but no group workouts. It basically just started up [Wednesday and Thursday]. Guys are back on the court and in isolation. It’s tricky. We haven’t been able to do a lot, but we do what we can and we will continue to adapt as the rules and mandates come in."

Nash said he doesn’t anticipate the Nets signing any more free agents. They recently added Langston Galloway, James Ennis, Shaquille Harrison and Wenyen Gabriel on 10-day contracts. So they have those four plus Harden, Millsap, Carter and veterans Blake Griffin and Patty Mills. Nic Claxton missed their game against the Magic on Saturday because of left wrist soreness, but it’s possible he will play on the trip to Los Angeles.

"We’re hopeful he can play on this trip, but not certain," Nash said of Claxton. "We’ll see if he’s available Saturday or Monday. It just depends on how he progresses."

In addition to the three rookies who entered health and safety protocols this week, the Nets also will be without MVP candidate Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and rookie Day-Ron Sharpe, all of whom entered the protocols last Saturday.

It was believed that LaMarcus Aldridge, Bruce Brown, DeAndre’Bembry, and James Johnson, all of whom entered protocols on Dec. 14, would be available on Christmas Day after clearing the 10-day quarantine required by the NBA unless a player has two negative tests 24 hours apart earlier in that period.

But Nash said, "We are not expecting anyone else to come out of protocols, but it is possible. You have to have two negative tests 24 hours apart. That gives us [Thursday night] and [Friday night] to return two negatives, but we are not predicting anybody to come out necessarily."

The calendar says Aldridge, Bembry, Brown and Johnson should be out of quarantine by Saturday, but their availability is determined by physicians on a case-by-case basis at the end of the quarantine period. There is a scenario where "viral shedding" can exist even weeks after an infection and can produce a positive test. But the player still may be cleared from quarantine in that case if he is asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and is not deemed a health risk.

By Greg Logan

Gregory.Logan@newsday.comGregLogan1

Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.