With the NBA season quarter pole visible on the horizon — and a matchup against his former Orlando team looming Saturday night — now seems like as good a time as any to assess where Jacque Vaughn and his Nets stand.

The short answer is probably further along in their rebuild than most expected by this point, but with a long way still to go.

Their first 18 games this season show how they’ve progressed and taken steps forward, while Thursday’s humbling loss to Charlotte underscored just how shaky each of those steps still are, and how easily this still-developing team can stumble if they veer even a little off the path Vaughn and his staff set down.

“Just [lack of] communication,” Mikal Bridges, on pace for career highs in points, rebounds and assists, said of the club’s halting progress. “We’ve just got to talk out there and help each other out. Just being in the spots for everybody and just trust each other.”