Nets to host preseason game against Israeli team

Brooklyn will have more than just two Israelis on the floor at Barclays Center this season.

The Nets — who drafted Israeli citizens Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf in the first round — will now host a preseason game against Hapoel Jerusalem on Oct. 4.

The news was first reported by Basketball News Australia.

It’s not the first time the Nets will host an Israeli team, playing an exhibition game against Maccabi Ra’anana in the 2023-24 preseason.

But this one may be a little different.

The Nets selected Saraf with the 26th pick in the June draft, then took Israeli-American big man Wolf minutes later at No. 27.

It was the first time Jewish players had ever been picked by one team in the same round, and they will be only the second Israeli teammates in the league after Sacramento’s Jordan Farmar and Omri Casspi back in 2016.

Now the news comes amidst the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, and with a French-Saudi-led conference this week at the United Nations calling for a rekindling of the two-state solution.

Brooklyn will also face the Suns in two preseason games in Macao on Oct. 10 and 12, in the NBA’s return to China for the first time since 2019.