Like they were a season ago, the Brooklyn Nets were one of the most fortunate teams in this season's NBA buyout market. Last year they landed Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge. That duo has provided a big lift to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at different times since coming aboard. Griffin was key back in 2021, and Aldridge has been instrumental during the 2022 campaign. Now they've landed another former All-Star player who was at the top of many contenders' wish lists, in Goran Dragic.

But when will The Dragon make his debut?

Let's rewind. Dragic actually appeared in five games this season for the Toronto Raptors. The 35 year-old Slovenian guard was an All-Star in 2018 with the Miami Heat. He won the league's most improved player award back in 2014 when with the Phoenix Suns. In 2020, Dragic was the second leading scorer on a team that went to the NBA Finals in the Bubble.

Bubble Dragon was flaming hot.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1309141790600040448?s=20&t=8Sa8P9FI6XgiuTolXeElfw

We gave our thoughts on Dragic's possible impact and role on the most recent episode of the “Nothing But Nets” Podcast and tried to guess closing lineups for the playoffs.

Fans will recall, Dragic was a backup to Steve Nash for four seasons when the two played for the Suns.

Nets' player development assistant, Amar’e Stoudemire, also played with Dragic, as did forward James Johnson. There's more than a little affinity here and that reportedly played a big factor in luring the talented combo guard to Brooklyn.

Dragic recently admitted there were six contenders vying for his services but Sean Marks and co. won the sweepstakes.

Per SNY Nets, Dragic said Nash played a big factor in his decision to come to Brooklyn:

“I choose Brooklyn because I think that they have a really good chance to win a championship, especially to play alongside Kyrie [Irving], KD, Ben Simmons, Aldridge, you know, those are the guys who already play big games and because of Steve [Nash] of course. Steve was my mentor, it's only fitting that when I came to the league I play with him and now… to finish my career with him would be awesome.”

Before the first game back from the break, head coach Steve Nash provided an update on when his former teammate might make his Nets debut.

Could The Dragon play as soon as Saturday vs. the Milwaukee Bucks? “I suppose it's not out of the question,” Nash said. “It's probably less likely that he would play, but I think in the next three games there's a good chance he's out there.”

Nash provided updates on Kevin Durant‘s return and described what it will take before Ben Simmons can take the floor as well.

The Nets aren't out of the woods. They could have used another full week off on top of the All-Star break to get everyone back on the floor. They still may be weeks away from NYC Mayor Eric Adams revisiting vaccine mandate rules that could allow Irving to return full-time. Without change, Irving can only appear in 8 of 22 remaining regular season games. So they can use Dragic in the worst way now. It's great to hear he may be ready to roll in the team's next two or three games.