Sean Marks’ ability to turn around a Brooklyn Nets organization which has been mediocre over the past few years could potentially be award-worthy.
The name Sean Marks may not be as well known to basketball fans as Sam Presti, R.C. Buford or Danny Ainge are. However, the Brooklyn Nets general manager has been gaining some respect in the NBA executive world.
A former NBA player, Marks found himself in the San Antonio Spurs front office as an assistant to GM R.C. Buford. In 2016 the Nets made the move to hire him as their team’s general manager. His task: Fix the mess left by former GM Billy King and the previous Nets’ front office.
And although he hasn’t completely done it, the steps and changes he’s made should not go unnoticed and deserves recognition.
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It was five years ago when the Nets sent shockwaves through the league when they traded for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and D.J. White from the Boston Celtics.
In return, the Nets sent Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Kris Joseph and Keith Bogans to Boston along with three first-round picks (2014, 2016 and 2018), plus the right to swap first-rounders in 2015 and 2017.
The Nets were trying to make a splash in their new home of Brooklyn, especially after getting upset in the playoffs by Nate Robinson and the Chicago Bulls the previous year.
The thought was that with Garnett and Pierce, two guys who had beaten LeBron James in the playoffs, the Nets could contend with the Heat in the East for a chance at the title. However, that was not to be as the Miami Heat swept the Nets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2014.
That offseason, Pierce signed a 2-year deal with the Washington Wizards. At the 2015 trade deadline, Garnett was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Meanwhile, Terry was gone in a trade to the Sacramento Kings at the 2014 trade deadline. White was waived five days after the trade was made.
Less than two years after the trade, nobody the Nets acquired from Boston was on the Nets roster and the Celtics had three golden eggs which would make the Nets the laughing stock of the basketball world.
Blue Man Hoop
The trade with Boston did two things. It set the Celtics up for success for the next couple of years. Those three first-round picks turned into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for the Celtics.
The final pick was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Kyrie Irving–Isaiah Thomas trade, which was then used by Cleveland last month to pick Collin Sexton. The other thing that trade did was set the Nets franchise back at least three years.
Slowly but surely Marks was able to get the Nets much-needed picks to help rebuild the franchise. The first move was trading away Thaddeus Young to the Indiana Pacers for the draft rights to Caris LeVert as well as a second-round pick that is 45-60 protected through 2022.
Marks also acquired the 42nd overall pick that year from the Utah Jazz, which turned into Isaiah Whitehead.
In February 2017, Marks orchestrated a deal in which he sent Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to the Washington Wizards for Andrew Nicholson, Marcus Thornton, but most importantly; a first-round draft pick in the 2017 draft. That pick would turn into Jarrett Allen.
Marks’ biggest splash as an executive so far came last offseason when he traded away longtime Net Brook Lopez and the rights to the 27th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Kyle Kuzma, to the Los Angeles Lakers for D’Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov.
That was a move that got the Nets a potential star who was a high draft pick (Russell was picked second overall in 2015).
That same offseason he flipped Justin Hamilton for DeMarre Carroll along with first- and second-round picks in the 2018 draft, which would be used to select Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs.
In December 2017, Marks traded away Trevor Booker to the Philadelphia 76ers for Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas and a 2019 second-round pick. In February, he sent Tyler Zeller to the Milwaukee Bucks for Rashad Vaughn and. more importantly, a second-round pick in this year’s draft.
Brooklyn Nets
That pick would then be used in the trade with the Charlotte Hornets for Dwight Howard, whom the Nets recently bought out. So in total, Marks was able to flip a roster of mediocre talent for six draft picks, four of which the Nets used and two that were used in the Howard trade.
Marks has also done a great job of signing quality free agents. During the 2016-17 offseason, the Nets signed key guys such as Booker and Joe Harris, who would not only give good production on the court but also be great locker room guys.
During the 2017-18 offseason, Marks traded Nicholson to the Portland Trail Blazers for Allen Crabbe, a player the Nets had signed to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent the year before.
Both Crabbe and Harris played big for the Nets last season as scoring options, both in the starting lineup or off the bench. Arguably, one of Marks’ best personnel moves was waiving Yogi Ferrell and signing a player named Spencer Dinwiddie; much to the chagrin of many Nets fans.
However, Dinwiddie proved the doubters wrong and made Marks look like a genius. Dinwiddie played so well this past season he was a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award and won the Skills Competition at All-Star Weekend.
The Nets aren’t out of the basement just yet, but they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. What Sean Marks has done is made the Brooklyn Nets a little more respectable as a team and organization.
People joked about the Nets not having draft picks and he went out and got some. People joked about the Nets not having any talent on the roster and Marks went out and got some through the draft, free agency and trades.
The Nets have a nice young core mixed with some veteran presence and, after the Howard buyout, are poised to be big players in free agency next offseason. It’s for these reasons that Marks could be a potential Executive of the Year candidate in a year or two.
Next: Nets 15 best draft picks of all-time
It’s easy to run a team loaded with talent. It’s harder to bring one out of the pits of misery and mediocrity without the need for tanking.