NBA Preseason: Nene To Make Preseason Debut For Washington Wizards Against New Orleans Pelicans

NBA Preseason: Nene To Make Preseason Debut For Washington Wizards Against New Orleans Pelicans by Ben Mehic

Perhaps taking a “bad boy” approach to the first game of the NBA preseason wasn’t a good idea by the Washington Wizards after all.

After Paul Pierce and Joakim Noah had gotten in a scuffle during Monday night’s preseason game, Nene and DeJuan Blair decided to leave the bench and join the altercation. Well, they broke a rule.

Both Nene and Blair will be suspended for the Washington Wizards’ regular season opener against the Miami Heat:

NBA suspends DeJuan Blair, Nene, Daniel Orton, Xavier Silas 1 game for leaving bench. Paul Pierce, Joakim Noah fined $15K for role in scrum. — Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) October 8, 2014

The NBA has been clear about punishing players for leaving the bench if an altercation on the court does occur, but I’m a bit surprised that they suspended both Nene and Blair since it was during preseason. Regardless, Nene and Blair broke the rules and got punished. That’s the way it works.

But, although the Washington Wizards won’t have Nene and DeJuan Blair on October 29th, they are a lot deeper this season than they were last year. Kris Humphries will likely start in place of Nene, while Kevin Seraphin and Drew Gooden will play backup minutes.

Oh, and the Miami Heat no longer have LeBron James on the roster.

This is definitely a setback, at least for opening night, but the game is still very much winnable for the Washington Wizards.