Sean Marks addresses Brooklyn Nets’ direction in first public comments after Mikal Bridges trade
Brooklyn’s general manager spoke on Brooklyn’s short- and long-term future, and just how Mikal Bridges departed, at the beginning of a new era for the franchise. It didn’t feel quite like the first day of school at HSS Training Facility on Monday morning, as Sean Marks prepared to make his first public comments since he steered the Brooklyn Nets into a completely new direction two weeks ago.
It was more like move-in-day for a college freshman, less about finding out the specifics of your class schedule and required textbooks but rather taking a breath and looking around, soaking in the the start of what should be a formative life experience, without knowing anything about how its going to play out.
That’s where Brooklyn is at right now, preparing for Las Vegas Summer League at the very start of a rebuild that hasn’t even begun to take shape yet. The trade that sent to Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks became official on Saturday, and on Monday, the Nets opened the doors of their new reality to the media, making their GM available for comment.
But first, Sean Marks had to address the recent past; namely, just how and why the Mikal Bridges trade went down.
“We were not seeing this deal for very long at all. Leon [Rose] and I talked for a couple of days on this thing and it moved very, very quickly. And you could tell how interested they were in adding Mikal to that group, which obviously, that’s been talked about for a variety of different reasons.”
Marks, though, had no interest in kicking Bridges on his way out the door, and voluntarily disputed reporting that the once-face-of-the-franchise orchestrated his own way out the door.
“That could not be further from the truth. I think that’s just not in Mikal’s character. It’s not who he is. And that definitely did not happen. But he was told by me when I called him up and let them know that we’re at the 2-yard line.”
That runs contrary to SNY’s Knicks writer Ian Begley’s reporting on the day the trade was agreed to...
Still, Marks painted the picture that the Nets took the offer not due to any internal or external pressure from Bridges’ camp or anybody else, but simply because it was the best deal on the table and made the most sense for his team.
“I think that sets us up on a very, very clear direction and pathway to continue to build this team with sustainable success, and that’s that’s the ultimate goal here,” said Marks, later adding that “there’s no shortage of interest in Mikal around the league for the player he is, the person he is ,and obviously the contract he’s on but in terms of this particular deal, this was by far the best deal for our organization, at this particular time to do it.”
Then, after closing the book on Mikal Bridges’ time with the Nets, Sean Marks began to discuss the future, in all its uncertain glory.
Short term outlook
In the short term, Brooklyn will not be good. Marks knows this, as do the players, as do the fans. Still, when discussing was Nic Claxton, who was re-signed to a four-year, $100 million deal after the Bridges trade, it was not as trade-bait, but as a homegrown talent Marks expects to keep growing.
“I give Nic a heck of a lot of credit for seeing the next steps he’s taken year by year with his game. It’s great to find a guy in college and I give our draft process a lot of credit ... I think Nic fits in a variety different pathways, you know, we want to go. He’s young, I think he’s still scratching the surface in here and I just loved his overall approach to him wanting more and more and more development. So now, you know, with some of the changes to our roster, I think we’ll see even more from Nic as we move forward.”
The same cannot be said, and was not said, for veterans like Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson. Both wings have consistently popped up in trade rumors over the past two weeks, and while no action has been taken on that front, Marks hinted that he’s simply playing the waiting game.
After mentioning a need to “let the free agent process shake out” before making more moves, Brooklyn’s GM had this to say to a question that mentioned Johnson by name:
“We’ve had some conversations with all the vets on the team because it does weigh on people ... But again, you want to be upfront, honest, and ultimately the goal for us is to find continuity, right? Whether that’s through a group of young guys building and growing here together, adding pieces in free agency when we have the opportunity to do so or trading for guys, which we can do. So, the flexibility for us is pretty exciting and intriguing moving forward.”
While a bit of Marks’ typical hiding of the cards, it does signal that the expected approach for Brooklyn is still the likeliest: Wait for the dust of free-agency to fully settle, and then allow Johnson and Finney-Smith suitors to come calling later (or soon) this summer.
As for their own free-agency plans, Marks only spoke of Trendon Watford, who the Nets recently extended a qualifying offer to, making Watford a restricted free agent. He said Brooklyn “would love” to have the 23-year-old back, a distinct change from what the scuttlebutt was earlier in the offseason, no doubt influenced by the Bridges trade.
Marks also spoke about the upcoming Las Vegas Summer League rotation, namely Dariq Whitehead, who will indeed be a full participant after a February surgery to correct shin splints in his left leg knocked him out for the rest of the regular season.
“At this point we’re gonna throw him out there. I mean, he hasn’t played in two years on a consistent basis, so I think we have to temper that a little bit, but at the same time, I know the young man is itching to get out there and play and get back to form. So that’s exciting for us to see how it goes.”
Long term outlook
This Brooklyn rebuild is only just beginning. Forthcoming trades of Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, a potential re-signing of Trendon Watford, and even the play of Dariq Whitehead at Summer League will only impact the next few seasons so much.
And while the steps for Marks & Co. beyond the next couple months are much harder to predict, he did have some insight as to what the long-term course of this rebuild could look like. Per usual, he didn’t spill his hand outright, measuring patience against the cap space the team will have in 2025, and the opportunity to trade the many draft assets his team now possesses, a key difference between this rebuild and his first go-round after being hired in 2016.
“The first couple years, we built through offer sheets, we built through cap space, being creative in some of those signings that we made then. We’ll take that and try and implement the same thing as we do it now, but again, we didn’t have a whole lot of draft picks back then ... This time we can build through the cap space that we’ll have and also it’s a new CBA. So I think that affects everybody a little differently, and I think having flexibility moving into this new CBA, nobody’s quite sure how it’s going to be.
That covers just about all the bases. Per usual, being measured was a focal point of Monday’s comments, as Marks toed the line between assuring fans the Nets won’t stink forever while committing to rebuilding the right way.
“I think we have to be patient, you know, we’re not going to be in a hurry. There’s not a sort of a ‘well you have to trade this or you have to make this or you have to trade these assets that were the draft assets that we’ve got or anything like that’ ... I do think being in this market, with this amount of draft assets, you know, we’ve done it before. And so again, I think we could, you know, not that it’s gonna be expedited by any means, but I don’t think it’s a long process either.”
For those looking for the takeaway from those comments, if there is one, it’s Marks mentioning “this market, with this amount of draft assets.”
It’s an admission that Brooklyn is in a position to attract marquee free agents either by way of trade or through free agency. This follows Brian Lewis of the New York Post and his recent reporting that the greater NBA world expects Brooklyn to be players in 2025 Free Agency with a whole lot of cap space at their disposal.
However, the upcoming 2025 and 2026 draft classes are nothing to sneeze at, and Brooklyn surely isn’t looking at their upcoming draft assets solely as trade capital. Expect a fair share of those picks to be used; after all, that was the calculus in Brooklyn’s draft-swap deal with the Houston Rockets, regaining control of their picks in the next two years.
“I mean, we’re always looking two, three, four years ahead to try to navigate a pathway and I think when we’re looking at this not holding our picks, honestly that would have been detrimental to those two draft classes,” said Marks. “So you know, now we know we have quite a number of picks, you know, and especially in 25. We’ll see how we navigate that but we’re excited about what the future holds for not only our scouts, but how we build this up and through the draft.”
It’s going to be a long road, with a lot of losing, for the Brooklyn Nets and their fans. 2024 Las Vegas Summer League, beginning at the end of the week, and putting the finishing touches on the roster by way of trade and free agency are only the start of it.
We’re at the very beginning of year one, as Sean Marks’ comments so aptly reminded us on Monday morning. Not close to the specifics of where Brooklyn will be drafting next year, much less who they’ll be drafting, and who the heck the long-term pieces on this roster will be. Cam Thomas, extension-eligible as we speak, is currently a year away from the expiration of his contract.
Sean Marks’ comments on Monday, then, simply rung in the new era, even as they lacked a ton of specificity. Mikal Bridges is indeed gone; it’s set in. The roster, both in the short- and long-term, is an unfinished product.
And the players, coaches, and front office all know what’s facing them. How it will go, though? That's anybody’s guess.
Mikal Bridges trade request whispers ‘could not be further from the truth’: Nets GM Sean Marks - Brian Lewis - New York Post
Noah Clowney doesn’t feel like a rookie anymore with chance to earn expanded Nets role - Brian Lewis - New York Post
After Mikal Bridges trade, Nets GM Sean Marks doesn’t expect lengthy rebuilding process ($) - Evan Barnes - Newsday
Nets appear to be all-in on rebuilding ($) - Evan Barnes - Newsday
GM Sean Marks says Mikal Bridges didn’t request trade to the Knicks ($) - New York Daily News
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