The NBA opened the doors to offseason transactions this week in advance of Wednesday night’s NBA Draft, and the Brooklyn Nets jumped in as part of a three-team trade that sent away their first-round draft pick.
With the deal becoming official on Thursday evening, Nets GM Sean Marks talked about that deal, Friday’s free agency opening, and more with the media on Friday morning as the team readies for training camp in early December.
ON TRADE TO ACQUIRE LANDRY SHAMET AND BRUCE BROWN
The Nets went into draft night on Wednesday holding the 19th and 55th picks, but came away with neither, opting instead for a three-team trade with the Pistons and Clippers that ended up including 14 players and draft picks. In the end, Brooklyn acquired a pair of young guards, 23-year-old Landry Shamet and 24-year-old Bruce Brown, who have established themselves as rotation players over their first two NBA seasons.
“We’re definitely in the win-now,” said Marks. “But I think when you add both those guys, there’s still a development cycle to both of them. They’re young enough. We’ve been watching them for several years. And honestly, they fill a need, they fit what we’re trying to do, Bruce obviously on the defensive end and Landry what he brings with some of his expertise where he was playing before, played at a high level and the shooting piece is obviously beneficial to us. What went into the trade was a number of things we weighed up: What can we do with the 19th pick, is that something that we wanted to take and what are the alternatives there. And I think I’ve mentioned before these things sometimes happen on the clock, sometimes they take two or three weeks of buildup and negotiations and discussing and thinking, well is this something that we want to do and it fits our timeline? We felt making this trade now certainly helps us right in the present, but it also helps us down the road here.”
ON FURTHER ACQUISITIONS
With the free agency period beginning Friday evening — signings can become official on Sunday — the Nets have 12 players under contract, not including two-way roster player Jeremiah Martin. So there are additions still to come with less than two weeks before the start of training camp. Whether those additions will fill in the back end of the roster or shake up the front end is still to be seen.
“We like the roster we have now,” said Marks. “I think it’s a good group of guys, a competitive group of guys. They’re obviously very talented, and it’ll be about how they mesh on the floor. And then you weigh up, OK, if I make changes, if we change out the 15th guy, if we change up the No. 4 guy, the first guy, whatever it may be, that all adds a different dynamic to the camaraderie, to the spirit of things on the court. So, I can’t really ask how that’s going to play out. The question is, we just have to be ready and flexible for whatever happens, and hopefully the decisions we make put the best roster available on the court. I couldn’t tell you how we would make trades and so forth, and whether that involves going after a bigger piece or whether that involves playing around the edges.”
ON JOE HARRIS
The list of 12 current roster players does not include Joe Harris, who is an unrestricted free agent. Back over the summer, Marks described signing Harris as “priority number one” for the offseason. Harris was one of Marks’ first acquisitions in the summer of 2016, and re-signed with Brooklyn two years ago after taking a big step forward in his second season with the team. He’s continued to elevate his game since then, and the 29-year-old is coming off career highs of 14.5 points and 4.3 rebounds. He’s shot over 40 percent from 3-point range in each of the last three seasons, leading the NBA in 2018-19.
“That’s definitely a priority,” said Marks. “We would hope that we can continue to build this with Joe. Joe is an integral piece to the program here, not only what he does and what everybody sees on the court, but it’s off the court as well. And it’s — as I mentioned in earlier questions — that team camaraderie and Joe’s been through it with us, been through the bubble, he’s seen this program develop and he’s developed alongside this program. It would certainly be great to have him continue this ride with us.”
ON ADDING MIKE D’ANTONI TO THE COACHING STAFF
With Steve Nash in his first season as a head coach, he’s added Mike D’Antoni to his staff, whom Nash and Marks played for together in Phoenix. The up-tempo, “seven seconds or less” approach of the D’Antoni/Nash Suns has left an enduring legacy in the evolution of the NBA over the past two decades. D’Antoni has been a head coach for 15 of the past 16 NBA seasons, with one year as associate head coach in Philadelphia in 2015-16. He’s coming off four seasons as head coach in Houston.
“I think it’s going to be great,” said Marks. “Right off the bat, Steve acknowledged, ‘Hey, I’m going to need experience on my bench.’ That’s what he was looking for right off the bat, and he’s not too proud to say it and say it out loud. Mike and Steve have a long relationship dating back over a couple decades. They know each other very well. They can have candid conversations. There’s a trust that’s already there. Then, you add the other staff that we have with Jacque (Vaughn) and Ime (Udoka) on the front of the bench. That’s a heck of a group right there. Again, it goes back to Steve knowing, ‘Hey, look here, I’ve got some holes.’ I obviously can cover up a lot of it with just what Steve brings to the table. But again, he can also say, ‘Look, I know I’m going to need some help here.’ And by bringing that group in that have been head coaches at a variety of different levels or have lived through some really important programs, which has been great.”
ON KEVIN DURANT AND THE POWER FORWARD POSITION
Nets head coach Steve Nash has said he’s open to using Kevin Durant at all five positions, but how much of that time will be spent at the 4? On a roster heavy with guards and wings, it seems like the most likely fit for the 6-foot-10 scoring machine, but the Nets are also interested in deepening the roster in the frontcourt.
“I think we would like to add some depth to that position without a doubt,” said Marks. “I think as it pertains to Kevin, we’re going to have to work hand-in-hand. Obviously Kevin has been so diligent in his rehab and working with the performance team here and so forth, and as I’ve mentioned numerous times, how he’s attacked it has been inspiring to say the least. So, I think it’s going to be conversations as we go. Right off the bat, do I think any of our guys will come out there and play 40 minutes? Probably not. This is something that we’ll — with a strange offseason that we’ve had, with an abbreviated training camp and so forth, just the nature of how guys are working out now: not being able to be in the gym and not being able to have these open gym runs that they would normally do. So, we’re going to have to be careful with obviously Kevin but just all our guys and just continue to monitor them, and that’s why depth is obviously important.”
ON CHEMISTRY
When the NBA season starts on Dec. 22, the Nets will have a roster of significant talent, from All-NBA stars to a young core they’ve worked to develop over the past four seasons. What they’ll still be looking to learn is how those pieces fit together in practice.
“I think most teams are dealing with the same sort of situation, especially teams like you mentioned that haven’t had a couple of their pieces with them for a while,” said Marks. “Thankfully, our guys have been doing all that they can to be around each other given the set of circumstances, so let’s see how it plays out through camp. The good thing is we have a bunch of guys here who know why they’re here. They know what they’ve sacrificed. They know what they’ve given up to be here. They know what they’re a part of and they have a common goal, and that’s a good thing. Individual accolades and everything else will certainly be put on the backburner for an opportunity to hopefully do something special in Brooklyn.”