Eastern Notes: Jennings, Brown, Nets

Brandon Jennings isn’t expected back from his torn left Achilles tendon until mid- to late December, writes Kevin Bull of the Detroit Free Press. That’s in contrast to a July report indicating that Jennings thought he would be ready for the start of training camp but more in line with recent comments from Jennings in which he expressed uncertainty about camp and said that he wouldn’t be back at his usual level of performance until December at the earliest. In any case, Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said last week on WMGC-FM that he’s optimistic that Jennings and Reggie Jackson can play with each other if Jennings regains his form, as Bull relays.

“If he comes back and he’s the Brandon Jennings that we had last year, I think those guys can play together quite well,” Van Gundy said. “Reggie is big enough (6’3″) to guard guys off the ball and everything else. It just gives you two playmakers on the floor together. I think they can be pretty dynamic, but we’ll just have to see where Brandon is when he comes back.”

See more on the Pistons amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:

• Van Gundy signaled a willingness to keep the core of the Pistons intact for the long-term, telling WMGC-FM that the roster “has a chance now, if we lock people up long-term, to grow together,” Bull notes.
• Brett Brown has no regrets about taking the Sixers job even though he admits the losing has been painful, and he doesn’t seem at all interested in pushing for an extension and disrupting the ethic of patience that pervades the organization, observes Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. “I signed a four-year contract [in 2013] and my intention is to see that through,” Brown said to Thomsen. “I love the city of Philadelphia. I enjoy and trust the people that I work with and for, and the opportunity that I have. I am grateful for the partnership. To be honest with you, I don’t feel comfortable talking about a contract. I just want to do my job.”
• The Nets are close to a local TV rights deal with the YES Network that is expected to at least double the annual fee the team collects, as John Ourand and John Lombardo of SportsBusiness Journal report (hat tip to NetsDaily). The would-be deal is poised to give the Nets an average of around $40MM a year starting in 2017/18, Ourand and Lombardo hear. Brooklyn has been receiving less on its local TV deal than any other New York or Los Angeles team, and it amounted to not much more than the Timberwolves get from theirs, a league source told NetsDaily, which notes that the arrangement is yet another part of the efforts the Nets have undertaken to become profitable.