The Nets have made the decision that star point guard Kyrie Irving will not be allowed to play in road games or practice with the team as long as he is unvaccinated and therefore ineligible to play in home games in Brooklyn. As of this writing, that means he would be out for the season provided he isn't traded and doesn't get vaxxed.

The ball is in Irving's proverbial court now. The latest about Irving wanting to become a “voice for the voiceless” does little to suggest he'll suddenly be available to help the Nets win a championship.

His stance may cost him game checks this season and a max-extension which would have landed him in town for the long haul. What is the impact of this season on the rest of the Nets and their roster?

If Irving is not available, and the Nets do not execute a trade anytime soon, that means there are a pile of minutes (Irving averaged just under 35 mpg last season) suddenly available for coach Steve Nash to divvy up.

Here are three players who could gain expanded roles if a Kyrie Irving absence looms over the Nets for an extended period of time.

Nets role players: Bruce Brown

A couple of preseason games ago Nash tapped swingman Bruce Brown to fill in the starting lineup for the Nets. Brown was already poised to be a breakout player for Brooklyn this season, even before any vaccine news changed everything.

The 6-foot-4 wing out of Massachusetts, selected 42nd overall in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 8.8 points, 0.9 steals, 0.4 blocks, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists a season ago. Coach Nash clearly trusts Brown, and the Nets can use help defensively and on the glass, both strengths for the Miami product.

Last season, Brown made a name for himself as a Swiss Army knife player. Whatever the Nets asked him to do, he did and did well. Not a traditional big man, they needed him to play some roll-man in pick-and-rolls. He learned it on the fly and thrived at times. He crashed the glass and offered tenacious perimeter defense, he even developed a nifty and reliable floater.

Brown is a bit of a “tweener” but one good thing about not having a clear-cut position is that you can play more positionless switch-heavy basketball. He's one player who stands to gain a big bump in burn without Irving in the fold and he's sounds ready for the increased role with the Nets.

Patty Mills

Sean Marks signing Patty Mills this offseason looks almost prescient now. While nobody would have contended Mills was anything but a tremendous value (for just under $6M annually), some might have observed the 2014 champion offers skills the Nets already had in droves, yet addressed few team weaknesses.

Now, without Kyrie Irving, there exists a need for reliable guard depth on the Nets. Mills is perhaps the player who stands to expand his role the most with an Irving absence. He has the championship pedigree to fill in running the offense, knock down open shots as well, and offer solid defense on guards.

Nic Claxton

It may not make the most logical sense for Nic Claxton, a reserve big on the Nets, to gain a huge bump in minutes without Kyrie Irving. But he has certainly earned the chance to provide Nash with the option to go bigger than he otherwise would have.

There are two things Claxton, who earned the start in Thursday's preseason game for the Nets, has going for him. The first is he loves defense and is quite good at it.

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The Nets on paper do not have the best defensive team. Far from it. One player they can usually rely on for that end of the court is Claxton. He's a rangy body to put on a big, and he's a menacing weakside shot-blocker. He even offers reliable switching onto guards when the situation calls for it, something precious few bigs reliably do well.

The second is that he already has a rare chemistry with James Harden. Claxton sometimes seems like he's still learning what he's capable of on the floor. He may not have even scratched the surface of what he can ultimately achieve. Harden clearly enjoys playing two-man-game with the other Slim Reaper, trusting him to go up top and bring down almost any lob for the Nets. When the defense respects Claxton as a roller, it occasionally springs “The Beard” for an easy floater.

My hunch is that the Nets will turn a handful of the isolation plays Kyrie Irving would have taken (3.9 field goal attempts taken from isolation last season) into pick-n-roll action between Harden and a lob-threat. Claxton may be the guy who could even impress Mr. Lob City himself, Blake Griffin.

A mixture of Brown, Mills, and Claxton may be the early season recipe for filling in a seven-time All-Star-sized void out on the wing.