Dennis Schröder, Dennis Smith Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith are done for the 2023-24 season, Nets interim head coach Kevin Ollie announced on Friday.
Schröder had been dealing with right Achilles soreness, Smith with right hip synovitis and Finney-Smith with a left knee effusion. All three missed Friday’s game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The Nets will play their regular-season finale on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. But with Schröder, Smith and Ben Simmons inactive on Friday, the team had a considerable void at point guard against one of the better backcourts in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re going to do it by committee, and we have a lot of guys,” Ollie said. “Actually, Nic [Claxton] can run the point, too. We have a lot of guys out there that can handle the basketball.”
Schröder, who was acquired by the Nets at the trade deadline, started 25 of his 29 games in a Brooklyn uniform while averaging 14.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. The 30-year-old has one year left on his current deal.
Other than a brief cameo against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 31, Smith, for the most part, had not appeared in a game for Brooklyn since the last time they faced the Knicks on March 23. He made 18 appearances overall since the All-Star break, averaging 16.6 minutes a night. The 26-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Finney-Smith missed the Nets’ previous two games against Toronto and Sacramento because of his injury. The forward averaged 8.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists across 68 games this season while shooting 42.1% from the field and 34.8% from 3-point range.
Along with Schröder, Smith and Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson (left big toe sprain) and Day’Ron Sharpe (right wrist effusion) also missed Friday’s game against the Knicks. That left the Nets with just nine healthy bodies, including G League standout Jacob Gilyard.
However, Ollie said the team hopes to get Johnson back for their regular-season finale on Sunday in Philadelphia.