On NBA trade deadline day in 2016, the Brooklyn Nets’ big move was bringing in the man who would lead their basketball operations. With just a couple of hours to spare, there wasn’t much time for Sean Marks to start dealing.
The 372 days since have been a different story. On what was technically his second trade deadline day as Nets general manager, Marks continued his reshaping of the roster.
His acquisition of swingman K.J. McDaniels shortly before Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline followed Wednesday’s deal of Bojan Bogdanovic and Chris McCullough to the Washington Wizards in exchange for a lottery-protected first round pick, forward Andrew Nicholson, and guard Marcus Thornton.
“First of all, I want to thank Bojan for what he did here,” said Marks of the third-year pro. “He handled himself like a true gentleman and a true professional. He was tremendous to be around and he’ll certainly be missed in the locker room and around here. Likewise for Chris.”
Not counting Thornton, who was waived shortly after the trade, and training camp invitees, McDaniels became the 17th new player Marks has acquired in the last year. Only Brook Lopez, the longest-tenured Net in franchise history in his ninth season, and second-year forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson remain from the team Marks took over.
In the annual frenzy around the trade deadline Marks had lots to consider before making the deals he did – and the ones he didn’t.
“There were plenty of things thrown our way,” said Marks. “It’s been a busy week, a really busy 48 hours for every team. So every team has been strategic in what they bring in and what they send out. We evaluate everything, and at the end of the day I think we got better.”
Marks has been expansive in seeking value for the roster, from the D-League to overseas to NBA veterans. He made strong moves in last year’s NBA Draft, trading in to secure picks that nabbed Caris LeVert and Isaiah Whitehead. The trade with Washington again put an emphasis on the draft as a building block, adding a second first round pick. Based on the current NBA standings, the Nets will likely pick twice in the mid-20s.
“We obviously value the draft or we wouldn’t have done it,” said Marks. “It’s about being strategic and having two picks now gives us an opportunity to move up with those picks, you can hold them where you are if your players are there at the time. You’re using players and picks, there’s a lot of different things you can do there. We like the draft, so we’ll just see where we go.”
Over the past year, the basketball operations staff has undergone a makeover as extensive as the roster, maybe more so. From first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson and his staff through the entire front office, Marks made his first real trade deadline deliberations a team effort.
“This is the first time doing it with this group together,” said Marks. “Kudos to everybody that played a ole in this. Again … it’s a collaboration. It’s not me in my room with a computer and phone and doing it. There’s absolutely no way that happens. The coaching staff played a big role in this, over the course of the last two weeks. We were strategic in how we asked them what they wanted, what they wanted to see and we involved them the whole way along. From analytics, from cap people, you name it, our whole group met up, collaborated, disagreed, committed and here we stand.”