No doubt about it: The Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era took a hard left turn that blemished Nets general manager Sean Marks’ six-year tenure.
But for a Brooklyn franchise with as many as 12 first-round draft picks through 2030 – eight eligible to trade this summer – and a bevy of coveted veteran players on tradeable contracts, there may not be a better man in all of basketball to get up off the mat and come out swinging.
Marks’ very claim to fame was resuscitating an organization that had no draft capital and a bare bones roster. Now entering his eighth season at the helm, the Nets’ GM has a full array of assets at his disposal.
This time, Marks faces a new challenge: He must rebuild the team he bulldozed at the February trade deadline around newfound franchise cornerstone Mikal Bridges.
Bridges needs a lot of help if these Nets plan on making it out of the first round of the playoffs next season. Chief among Marks’ challenges is discerning whether or not 26.9 regular-season points per game classify Bridges as a 1A superstar – that is, the best player on a championship-caliber team.
If not, Marks and his front office will work tirelessly to use their assets to build a contender, with Thursday’s upcoming NBA Draft serving as a ripe opportunity to strike deals with other teams looking to part ways with a star.
The kind of star clearly matters. Durant, Irving and James Harden were not a match for Brooklyn.
Yet while dealing with high-maintenance superstars was a culture shock for Marks, who “prefers a more chill vibe” according to members of the 2018-19 Nets, the current state of affairs in Brooklyn is right up the general manager’s wheelhouse.
After enticing the borough with a star-studded, championship-littered future, only to fall short, it’s on the Nets’ GM to deliver.
And if he can’t deliver a championship, the city deserves a team it can be proud of. A team to call its own. That much Marks has proven capable of delivering, and these are the ways he can do so on Thursday night’s draft.
DRAFT DAY TRADES
The Nets own picks Nos. 21 and 22 in Thursday’s upcoming NBA Draft, and make no mistake: Marks is no stranger to the war room negotiation desk. He has negotiated a draft-day deal in four of the seven NBA Drafts he has overseen as Nets GM.
One of his first moves leading the front office was the deal that sent Thaddeus Young to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to Caris LeVert, plus a future second-round pick. LeVert eventually blossomed into a fringe star in Brooklyn and was included in the deal that pried Harden from the Houston Rockets.
On Draft Day 2017, Marks negotiated the deal that sent both Brook Lopez and pick No. 27 (Kyle Kuzma) to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov. After a tumultuous end to his first stint in Los Angeles, Russell reinvigorated the fan base in Brooklyn, where he made his lone All-Star appearance in 2019 and averaged 21.1 points and seven assists per game to lead the Nets into the playoffs as a No. 6 seed.
Two years later, Marks agreed to a smaller deal on Draft Day 2019, sending the draft rights to Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele in exchange for both the draft rights to UCLA’s Jaylen Hands and the Philadelphia 76ers’ 2020 first-round pick.
That 2020 first-round pick was later re-routed to the Detroit Pistons as part of the deal that landed both Bruce Brown and Landry Shamet in Brooklyn.
The Nets eventually sent Shamet to the Phoenix Suns, and in exchange, they acquired Jevon Carter and pick No. 29 in the 2021 NBA Draft, which Marks used to select Day’Ron Sharpe two slots after taking Cam Thomas at pick No. 27.
With two late first-round picks in this year’s draft and a team that needs star power to make a sizable leap up the standings, expect the Nets to be active on the phone lines, looking to strike a deal with the highest bidder.
TURNING WATER INTO WINE
Even if they decided to keep the picks – an unpopular course of action among fans on social media – Marks’ staff has also been adept at finding quality players outside of the lottery.
They selected LeVert 20th overall in 2016, Jarrett Allen 22nd overall in 2017, Thomas 27th overall in 2021 and Sharpe 29th in the same class. Thomas scored 40 points in three straight games when Irving left the team midseason to force a trade to Dallas. He also scored 46 in the season finale.
Meanwhile, both LeVert and Allen would be selected Top 10 in re-drafts of their respective classes. Both played meaningful roles for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season, though the Cavaliers won the same number of playoff series as the Nets despite finishing as the East’s fourth seed.
Zero.
Marks’ staff also selected Nic Claxton, another top-10 pick in a re-draft of his class, 31st overall in 2019. Claxton vaulted into Defensive Player of the Year candidacy in the first half of last season. He has become universally heralded as one of the NBA’s premier perimeter defenders at the center position and expanded his offensive game to score off the dribble last season.
Marks’ draft record comes with one notable miss: selecting Dzanan Musa with pick No. 29 in the 2018 NBA Draft despite Jalen Brunson, Devonte Graham, Mitchell Robinson, Jarred Vanderbilt, Bruce Brown, De’Anthony Melton and Shake Milton all being available in the second round.
But it’s still an admirable and valiant effort in maximizing limited assets – experience that is sure to pay dividends now that Marks’ cupboards are stacked.
CAP SPACE CREATIVITY
The Nets spent the first handful of seasons on Marks’ watch as a preferred destination for salary dumps.
In 2018, they took on the final year of Kenneth Faried’s four-year, $50M contract, valued at a $13.7M salary that season. As part of the same deal, the Nets also took on the final year of Darrell Arthur’s contract: three years, $23M, with the Nets on the hook for the final $7.4M.
The Nets, however, were able to pry a protected first-round pick from the Nuggets in exchange for the salary cap relief. That pick became Kabengele, who was eventually traded for the pick that was used to acquire Bruce Brown from the Pistons.
Marks then turned around and flipped Arthur to the Phoenix Suns for Jared Dudley and a top-35 protected second-round pick. His front office used that pick to select Rai’Quan Gray 59th overall in 2021.
The Nets are no longer in the market to take on additional salary. In fact, the role is now reversed: They will need to consolidate several attractive contracts into one definitive star.
They may need to sweeten deals to get off of unattractive contracts, now seeking the same relief they once provided other teams around the league.
TAKING THE BIG SWING
It takes guts to mortgage the future on three polarizing superstars, and even more guts to face the music when it goes left. No general manager has made history without taking some sort of risk. Marks’ career has been littered with them, for better or worse.
He’s handed out exorbitant offer sheets to C-list restricted free agents (Allen Crabbe, Tyler Johnson), struck multiple deals to assemble the short-lived Big Three-era Nets, then reduced it all to ash and built it back around Bridges, the newfound face of a Nets team re-entering its young and fun era.
Young and fun, as the Nets know, doesn’t win championships. It can, however, put fans in seats.
It’s up to Marks and his staff to decide how big of a swing they plan to take, especially given the expected boost in salary cap after the TV broadcast deals are renegotiated in 2025. Their roster is two pieces away from contending in the East, and the breadcrumbs suggesting Damian Lillard has interest in teaming up with Bridges are bountiful.
The Nets have the assets to swing for the fences, but the last time they did so, it came with more headaches than playoff series victories.
This time should be different. Marks is back in his element. The Nets are coming, once again.
