Meanwhile In Brooklyn…
Sean Marks was at the Spurs so long it must seem weird to be hanging around in the NBA at this time of the year without having a playoff game to prepare for. But then when you aren’t in the playoffs, you’re arguably even busier in April/May than those that are as you try desperately to get the jump on others in preparation for next season.
Actually, next season might be a couple years too soon. The Nets are not in an enviable place these days and following his initial unveiling, Sean Marks hasn’t been very vocal recently. That’s because there’s work to do. It turns out he was in the process of finalising the Nets’ new head coach: Kenny Atkinson.
Nets GM Sean ‘Marksy’ Marks: “We are thrilled to announce Kenny Atkinson as our new head coach and to welcome him and his family to Brooklyn. Kenny’s years of NBA coaching experience working under successful head coaches such as Mike Budenholzer and Mike D’Antoni have provided him with the foundation and experience we were looking for in a head coach. We believe that Kenny’s core principles, leadership, communication skills and exceptional background in player development make him an ideal fit for the culture we are building in Brooklyn.”
Atkinson is currently an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks, where he serves under 2014-15 NBA Coach of the Year Budenholzer. As such, he won’t begin the Brooklyn role until after the Hawks are eliminated and there’ll be no press introduction until that time either. No detail of the deal were released.
Brooklyn had been without a head coach since early January – over a month before Marks was named GM – and Tony Brown had filled in as interim. Given the availability of coaches such as Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks, George Karl and the telly voices of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, it’s interesting that the Nets went for a respected assistant over a high profile name. To be honest, high profile anything ain’t the best right now. In a self-defined “bridge year” the more they can slip under the radar the better they’re doing things.
If you were gambling on Marks hiring a San Antonio affiliate for the coaching role, as many were (Marks’ SAS connections were a significant factor in getting his job), you whiffed on that one. However Coach Bud is still an extended member of the Gregg Popovich Coaching Tree so there is a second degree link there (a branch of a branch?). Atkinson also has plenty of overseas experience, having held several positions in Europe and was the head coach of the Dominican Republic team at the last FIBA Americas Championship.
That international experience is gonna be key. The order for the 2016 Draft Lottery was finalised this week and that will have gotten most teams with losing records all drooling at the mouth as the next step is taken towards that potential game-changing rookie. Except that the Nets don’t have their pick, of course.
The Nets’ pick is third in the listings with a 15.6% chance of the top spot but they surrendered that selection to the Boston Celtics as a part of the Garnett/Pierce trade. The same reason they don’t have their first rounder in 2018 and the Celtics reserve the right to a first round swapsie in 2018. They owe a 2017 second to Atlanta, a 2018 second to Charlotte or Philly, a 2019 second to Memphis and a 2020 second to Philly. They swap seconds with the Clippers this year so that means that their single pick in the 2016 Draft will come at position 55 overall. Last year’s 55 pick was Cady Lalanne to the Spurs and he is yet to play an NBA game – though to be fair he was a D-League All Star. Sean Marks himself was taken at 44 himself in 1998.
So, yeah. They won’t be trying the Philadelphia strategy of rebuilding through the draft. Which means that they’ll need to find alternative ways of adding to a roster that currently has two above average players: Brook Lopez and Thad Young. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was decent as a rookie as well, granted. Which is where the international players thing comes in because if there’s a weakness in how other teams are scouting then that’s where the Nets need to strike. Marks worked all that time with the Spurs who are arguably the best foreign scouting team in the league, look no further than Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili there. You want to know what the best case scenario is for the 55 pick? The Spurs took Ginobili at 57 in 1999. Coach Atkinson, by the way, also spent time on the NY Knicks – and is credited with playing a huge role in the whole Linsanity affair. There’s another example of an undiscovered diamond in the rough.
As well as that the Nets also hired 26 year old Ronald Nored to coach their D-League team, the Long Island Nets.
Marksy Marks: “We are excited to welcome Ronald as head coach of the Long Island Nets. Ronald is a bright young mind in our game whose experience under Brad Stevens as both a player and a coach, as well as his ability to connect with today’s players, have prepared him for this role. His commitment to player development, along with his enthusiasm and passion for the game, are aligned with the vision we have for both the Brooklyn and Long Island Nets.”
Nored spent three years on the staff of the Boston Celtics (also working with their DL team). He had a successful college career as a player, known as a superb defender especially, but went undrafted in 2007 and after graduating he coached high school and university ball before Brad Stevens brought him to the Celtics – Steven had been his coach at Butler Uni. It’s a rare one to see a guy as young as this hired but, man, everything you read about him is pretty exciting and Marks and his team being willing to think outside the box is essential.
The D-League is gonna be a big part of their franchise development in the same way that attracting foreign talent should be. Already in the Marks Regime they’ve been able to snap up Sean Kilpatrick from that level – who was one of the dudes competing with Corey Webster for a spot on the Pelicans way back when. Here’s some NBA.com team PR work on Marksy:
“Sean Marks said he was looking to change the Brooklyn Nets culture when he was hired on Feb. 18 and after two months on the job, it appears that he’s following through.
The Nets players said there’s more accountability within the organization now, with repercussions for small infractions like lateness and that there’s a sense of stability at the top of the basketball chain.
Marks also showed his skills at finding talent, signing Sean Kilpatrick - the D-League’s leading scorer - to a multi-year deal after completing a pair of 10-day contracts. He hasn’t made any big moves yet, but he’s brought some stability to the front office and is laying the groundwork for a winning environment.”
The Nets won 21 games this season, finishing second to last in the East. They have bugger all in the way of roster assets but at least they’re starting to think in the right way. A state of the art training centre opened this season – that’s the other thing about digging for talent: if you can get them to their potential then you’re doing yourselves right. They’re also forced to build hard towards the future because free agents are increasingly showing that competitiveness is the biggest drawcard. Put in other words: Kevin Durant is not leaving Oklahoma City to join Brooklyn, not unless Steven Adams has given him an incurable Kiwi fetish. As for home run trade options, well that’s the whole reason they’re so deep in this mess now. They don’t have the chips to get back on that bargaining table.
With reports that the NBA salary cap might climb as high as $92m next season, that means Brooklyn will have plenty of room to nab a few low-key prospects and grizzled veterans, but the problem is everyone else is gonna have space too. They can’t get good all at once and with that the smartest thing for Marks to do, and so far playing it smart is all he’s done, is to build this thing along a 3-5 year plan. Possibly longer given the draft situation. Most teams have their long term goals but only a few are truly committed to that vision – largely because they have the luxury of ‘now’ to distract them. Like, the Celtics would surely have traded that probably top-3 pick for Kevin Durant’s expiring contract. Any team in the league would have (not that it ever woulda been an option for KD).
The temptation is to overpay for free agents, hope that they sacrifice ambition for cash money. Nothing wrong with that and it could even work – although it’s a risky option. Flexibility is crucial for teams in Brooklyn’s situation, as for all the slow moving chess moves you never know when that monster transaction is gonna appear from the clouds in a beacon of light and the last thing you want is to have to turn it down because you paid way over the asking price for, like, Lance Stephenson or OJ Mayo.
At least their lack of draft picks saves them from that counterproductive incentive of staying rubbish for longer in order to keep picking as high as they can. The Nets have no reason to only win another 21 games next year and you can bet that Kenny Atkinson was keen on that idea – tanking enterprises are for general managers to play with, coaches care about winning.
Just as the Nets emphasised in that quote a few paragraphs back, Marks is all about reshaping this team culture. When Lionel Hollins was fired, the team was a depressive mess. Apparently none of the players liked him and while their future prospects aren’t that much brighter yet, at least the culture is slowly taking shape. That isn’t only about positivity but also structure and in the past few days a couple of well-liked staffers have been released as well, with more expected to follow.
This from Nets Daily: “It's not extraordinary for a new GM, like Sean Marks, to reorganize basketball operations. Marks reportedly will name new staffers soon. In addition, sources say several other basketball operations staff and the team's coaches will not be retained. Frank Zanin, Billy King's assistant GM, announced his departure 10 days ago.”
None of this is gonna make headlines in NZ like a Steven Adams alley-oop, some of it won’t even make headlines in Brooklyn. And a lot of it won’t pay off at all in the short term or potentially even at all – hey, there’s no exact science here. But the Sean Marks era in Brooklyn is well underway now and slowly but surely they’re getting things done.