Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks said former NBA MVP James Harden is "progressing well" from a hamstring strain.

Harden has missed five consecutive games since exiting Brooklyn's win over the New York Knicks on April 5.

The All-Star guard – one of the frontrunners for MVP honours this season having been averaging 25.2 points, 10.9 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game – sat out Friday's 130-115 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

Marks provided an update on Harden, telling reporters: "I can tell you that James is progressing well. He's looking forward to having at least one or two more play days -- which means he'll play four on four, five on five with the group in practice.

"And hopefully, if things go smoothly like that, he'll be out and joining the guys in a game. But he's progressed well, he's met his markers up to this point and we'll just continue to progress him along.

"Hopefully, it's not too much longer. But at this point, I can't put a timetable on if it's two days, five days or so forth."

Nets head coach Steve Nash was also asked about Harden after star-studded Brooklyn improved to 38-18 behind Kevin Durant's 25 points and 11 assists.

Steve Nash added: "I haven't seen James. So he worked out [Thursday]. We had an off day. He worked out when we were on the road.

"But I think he was going to work out this evening. So I haven't seen him. all I can go off is what I heard and I know, speaking to James and speaking to people who were on the court with him -- he is improving and he is on the right track and hopefully won't be long before he's back.

"But there are still markers. And you know there's James -- he wants to play tonight -- and there's performance that wants to lean on science and be safe.

"There are two kind of despaired opinions and that's what we're here for is to try to find the middle ground and make sure he returns safely but also as soon as he possibly can."

The Nets are set for a three-game road trip against the Miami Heat (Sunday), New Orleans Pelicans (Tuesday) and Toronto Raptors (Wednesday).

"I mean, again, I hope I'm not speaking out of term," Nash said. "But I think typically, at this stage of the rehab, it's about high-intensity play. So can get out there and play one on one, three on three, four on four, five on five and can he do it consistently over two or three times in a row?

"Not necessarily back-to-back days, but two or three bouts of high-intensity play in a row and you recover, do it again and prove that he can meet the demands and intensity and have no ill effects the next day or the next performance. So that's kind of the way it works, in a very general way."