And so it begins. The Nets open training camp this week with the goal of improving on last year’s Atlantic Division title and second-round playoff performance. I have grave doubts as to whether they’ll succeed in doing so, but let’s put those aside for a moment. For now, the tiny nuggets of information that come to us from the four weeks of preseason are all we have to help us divine whether the Nets can play into June.

We should learn plenty about the team between now and when they tip off against the Raptors in East Rutherford on November 1. Granted, we won’t learn some important things until the season starts. For instance, how much Jason Kidd has left in the tank is a major question this year, but since most veterans play at about 40% in exhibition games it’s not going to be something you’ll find out by watching preseason games.

That being said, here are some of the important answers we’ll be seeking out between now and opening day:

Will Vince Carter sign an extension?

Obviously, this question is first and foremost on the minds of Nets fans because it impacts not only this season but the next several as well. Carter can opt out of his contract after the season, but he also has until June to sign an extension similar to the three-year addition that Dirk Nowitzki recently penned with Dallas. However, the “until June” part is a bit of a false hope — realistically, he’ll either sign it by the trade deadline in February or play out his walk year.

The Nets seem more than willing to play along and give Carter the maximum allowable extension, so it’s Carter that’s the issue. As many observers have pointed out, Carter has roots both in Orlando (where he grew up) and North Carolina (where he went to school). As luck would have it, both the Magic and Bobcats will have plenty of cap space next summer.

Nets GM Rod Thorn tried to quell the Carter-to-Orlando rumors this week by saying the Magic will only have $9.5 million of cap space next summer, but that’s only part of the story. What Thorn said is technically correct, but all Orlando would need to do is package Carlos Arroyo and Pat Garrity for an expiring contract any time in the next eight months and they’d have enough room to pay Carter the maximum.

Plenty of teams could partner up with the Magic in such a trade given the right incentives, most likely a draft pick. The list includes Milwaukee (for Ruben Patterson), Denver (for Joe Smith), Chicago (for P.J. Brown) Dallas (for Austin Croshere) and the Lakers (for Kwame Brown, who’s deal isn’t guaranteed in 2007–08).

All it would take is a wink and a nod from Carter’s people and the Magic would have the deal done in a nanosecond, so the Nets have to be shaken by his unwillingness to sign on the dotted line. Moreover, there’s the secondary question of how it impacts the Nets this year. If Carter gets a sore knee in April, is he going to sit out so he doesn’t hurt his free agent value? Or will it have the opposite effect, with a contract year inspiring Carter to play with more passion than he typically exudes?

What happens with Jeff McInnis?

The clubhouse cancer was excised from the team a long time ago and told not to bother coming to training camp. But he’s still collecting paychecks, and that matters because the Nets are very close to the luxury tax line. If they could find a way to trade McInnis’s $3 million-plus salary for 2006–07 and get anything, I mean anything, in return, it would be a big help.

More likely, they’re going to have to negotiate a buyout of his deal that will offer little cap savings. But if they can somehow unload McInnis on some unsuspecting rube (where’s Isiah when you need him?), it would free enough room under the tax threshold to sign another player before the season and shore up the troublesome bench.

Does Jay Williams have anything left?

Three years after a horrific motorcycle accident left his career in ruin, the Jersey boy and former Duke star is trying to make a comeback with the Nets. (Incidentally, you college fans out there may remember him as Jason Williams, but he shortened it to “Jay” when he got to the NBA to avoid being confused with the guy who shot his limo driver and the other guy who got kicked off his college team and served a league-mandated drug suspension).

While everyone will be rooting for the local-boy-made-good angle, scouts are concerned that Williams’s quickness has diminished as a result of his injuries. He has a great chance of earning a roster spot if the Nets are willing to carry 15 players, because once McInnis is cut loose it makes Williams no. 15. He’ll most likely enter the year as the team’s no. 3 point guard, but much depends on how he looks these next few weeks.

Can Mile Ilic and Marcus Williams help this year? We’re not going to know anything about rookie Josh Boone for a long time because he hurt his shoulder over the summer. But the other two rookies should provide more immediate answers. Marcus Williams is likely to see heavy minutes at the point in preseason so he can learn Lawrence Frank’s style, while Ilic also should see heavy preseason minutes in order to get him used to the rigors of NBA play. In this case, don’t necessarily look for results in preseason as much as indicators of quality. Both guys probably will make a ton of mistakes, but if they show they can hang with everyone else athletically and make plays, New Jersey will have reason to smile.

Can Antoine Wright help this year, or next year … or any year? The 15th overall pick in 2005 suffered through an ugly rookie year, but entering this year he’s one of only two wing players behind Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. The other one, Bostjan Nachbar, is a known quantity, and it’s not the good kind of known quantity — the Nets know he can’t play. Thus, the pressure is on Wright to step his game up in a big way from a year earlier. The Nets are in a position where Wright almost has to get minutes, so if he performs as badly as he did a year ago it seriously sandbags the second unit.