The Brooklyn Nets didn’t make a deal before the trading deadline but still came away with perhaps their best move in the past couple of years.
Luring Sean Marks away from the San Antonio Spurs' nest is easily the Nets’ biggest win of the season. Mikhail Prokhorov hit the reset button when the Nets fired Lionel Hollins and reassigned Billy King in January. Now he has a highly regarded first-time general manager with the kind of grooming and potential to become a difference-maker.
With a chance to reshape the franchise, Prokhorov’s brain trust –- Dmitry Razumov, Sergey Kushchenko, Brett Yormark and Irina Pavlova –- deserve Brook Lopez-sized credit for going through a deliberate and detailed GM interview process and following through on the owner’s desire to build a new culture and develop a strategy and plan for the future.
While Marks might not be a flashy name for an owner who loves splashy moves, the Nets’ Russian leadership might have made as bold a move as they did by hiring an inexperienced Jason Kidd as head coach in 2013.
Like that unconventional hire -– Kidd went straight from playing to coaching -- Prokhorov and Razumov are now placing the franchise into the hands of another 40-year-old up-and-comer with a well-trained basketball mind and a highly regarded reputation.
Marks isn't a future Hall of Fame player like Kidd -- now the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks -- but Marks has been mentored by the front-office equivalent of Hall of Famers in San Antonio’s R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich.
In the NFL, it has long been popular to try to copy the New England Patriots’ way. And there have been teams that have failed trying to duplicate Bill Belichick’s success (see New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, among others).
In the NBA, mimicking the Spurs’ way is a good place to start. There are no guarantees, but for too long the Nets have had no plan or failed to stick with a strategy for their future, opting to try to be opportunistic. The result has been nearly catastrophic, as the Nets do not control a first-round pick until 2019.
Prokhorov has learned the hard way that money cannot buy a championship without a sound plan.
“My passion [is] to be a champion as fast as possible," Prokhorov said Wednesday at the unveiling of the Nets’ new, sparkling, $50 million waterfront practice facility. "I mean, you know I deserve championship much more than maybe anyone in Brooklyn. But maybe if [there was] one big mistake we [made], it was a lack of strategy.
"What we need is to have GM, the coach and the team on the same page so we can develop a strategy.”
The Nets could have gone after a more well-known GM with more experience. But they’re betting on finding the next standout executive in much the same way they thought Kidd could be a future star in coaching.
Marks spent the past five years filling a variety of roles in San Antonio, from assistant general manager to assistant coach, director of basketball operations and GM of the Spurs’ NBDL team. He also played for 12 seasons and won a championship with San Antonio in 2005.
The versatile Marks has been an assistant in the front office and on the bench for the best organization in basketball and a franchise known for its long-standing success, excellent coaching and an ability to discover and draft talent, especially abroad.
Not bad at all, Mikhail and friends. But now might come the hard part.
As Marks surely knows, the Nets are about as daunting a rebuilding task as there is, perhaps in all of sports. The assets/picks cupboard is nearly barren. Sure, the Nets are expected to have $40 million to play with in free agency this summer and a brand-new practice facility that's second to none. But there will be a lot of teams with money to burn and more attractive situations out there from a winning perspective for free agents to consider.
This rebuild will take patience -- patience from Marks and extreme patience from Prokhorov and Razumov, the Nets' chairman of the board of directors. They will have to let Marks do his job, and it could take two to three years before significant results can be seen.
Will Marks have the freedom to do what he deems best in the big picture? Prokhorov will surely provide support with his deep pockets, but will all basketball decisions be left up to Marks?
Also, will Marks be able to hire his own coach? Prokhorov mentioned something very important, which is to find a coach and GM on the same page.
But the Nets need somebody who can attract free agents and make the most out of the roster. They already like former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau. Luring former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy away from television would be a victory. And there will continue to be a push for Kentucky coach John Calipari. But will a big-name coach join the Nets if there’s no previous relationship with Marks (if that’s the case)? Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, who also coached CSKA Moscow, does have a relationship with Marks and Prokhorov.
We have to see if Prokhorov, Razumov & Co. hire the coach with Marks’ blessing and see if they work well together. Or will they let Marks pick his own coach with their blessing? If you want to go the Spurs’ way, you probably have to let the former Spurs guy do it his way. We'll find out just how much autonomy Marks received in order to leave the Spurs.
At least for now, the Nets have a new general manager. They didn't make any trades before the deadline, but they still won big on Thursday.
Now we wait for the Nets’ next move –- hiring a coach.
"We are [being] very passive because we're not in a hurry,” Prokhorov said of making any deals before the deadline. “We have a long-term vision."