This is not a joke. The Nets figure to have 12 players in uniform and available today.

Zoran Planinic definitely will dress, and Ron Mercer said yesterday that he could give spot minutes in the 1 p.m. showdown with the defending champ Pistons.

If so, it will mark the first time the Nets can go 12 deep since Dec. 7 – 29 games ago.

“To see Ron and Zoran was good,” Jason Kidd said. “Now let’s make sure everybody else stays healthy.”

Added a smiling Vince Carter after a practice at which both Planinic and Mercer worked with the team: “It was good to see we had a couple of subs and a couple of guys coming in and out.”

Planinic suffered a broken left hand Dec. 1 and underwent surgery.

Through work and determination, he has pushed up his return date by nearly two weeks.

Mercer was signed over the summer to be a go-to type scorer, yet he played in just three games before requiring left-knee surgery.

While holding no reservations about Planinic, coach Lawrence Frank said he would talk to Mercer, indicating Mercer’s appraisal might determine availability.

Mercer’s assessment? “I’ll tell him I can play.”

“I don’t know what I could give, but I could play,” added Mercer, a 13.9-point career scorer whose return will help offset the loss of Rodney Buford, whose play helped offset the loss of Richard Jefferson.