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Nets GM Billy King: No minutes limit for Brook Lopez

Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King said the team has no plans to limit center Brook Lopez's minutes this season. On Thursday, the Nets announced Lopez is expected to miss up to two weeks with a mild right midfoot sprain.
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Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King said the team has no plans to limit center Brook Lopez's minutes this season, team writer Lenn Robbins reports.

On Thursday, the Nets announced Lopez is expected to miss up to two weeks with a mild right midfoot sprain. Lopez, 26, was not wearing a boot on his foot at practice Friday and was moving well, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

After playing all 82 games in each of his first three seasons, foot injuries have limited him to 96 games over the past three years. He played in just five games during the 2011-2012 season after breaking his right foot. Lopez made the All-Star Game in 2013, but broke his right foot again last December and was limited to 17 games on the season.

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In his six-year career since being the No. 10 pick in the 2008 draft, Lopez has averaged 18.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. He was scoring a career-best 20.7 points per game last season prior to the injury. He is entering the third season of a four-year, $60 million contract he signed in 2012.

Head coach Lionel Hollins said he would play Kevin Garnett at center and Mirza Teletovic at power forward if Lopez was out of the lineup when the season started. Mason Plumlee, the team's backup center, was a member of Team USA's gold-medal winning team at the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

Brooklyn is entering its first season under Hollins after Jason Kidd left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Nets open the regular season on Oct. 29 at the Boston Celtics.

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