Yogi Ferrell Is The First Great Find (& Loss) of Sean Marks’ GM Career
Sean Marks was handed a poisoned chalice when he took over the Brooklyn Nets General Manager’s role, that’s not an alternative fact. They’re cruising towards the best shot at the first overall pick in the next draft but they owe that pick to the Boston Celtics… just as they do a few more picks across the next couple seasons. Free agents don’t want to sign with the worst team in the NBA and there isn’t much to work with in terms of trade bait there either. Somehow Marksy and his team are gonna have to manufacture something out of nothing and it’s gonna take some time.
The first thing that’s been prioritised is the team culture. Coach Kenny Atkinson is already instilling a particular style of play with an eye on signing the right players to fit that model in the future. It’s about what you’d expect from a GM who learned his trade at the San Antonio Spurs, guys are expected to do their jobs with humility and honesty, with good shooters and smart passers abound all playing at a fast pace. Everyone chips in on defence, that’s the New Nets’ Way.
Of course, Brook Lopez can’t do it all by himself and Julius Erving ain’t walking through that door anytime soon. Marks’ first free agency was a hit and miss affair, he picked up Jeremy Lin amongst some underrated others but whiffed on a couple risky but high-ceilinged young dudes on restricted deals: Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson. Both the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami heat went and matched those contracts and the Nets were left scouring the D-League and international stuff for some undiscovered gems.
Through that avenue and through a couple draft trades they were at least able to inject some youth into things, with eight of the 16 players to have taken the court this season aged 25 or younger. Mostly all off the bench though Isaiah Whitehead and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson aren’t strangers to the starting five. There are decent NBA rotation fellas in there but you don’t get good without a few stars, ideally All Stars. Right now Brook Lopez with his 20.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in a shade under 30 mins a night is the only one anywhere close to that.
Which is where Yogi Ferrell comes into things. He was an absolute gun at Indiana State, their all-time leader in assists, but at 6’0” he didn’t even get a run at the NBA Draft Combine. That didn’t stop him working out for half the league but come draft day he went unclaimed. Despite his playmaking ability, his small stature had seen him slip through the cracks and that’s exactly the kind of thing that the Nets are poised to take advantage of. They plucked the undrafted Ferrell for their Summer League team, kept him through preseason and he was the final man cut before their opening day roster was set.
Yet it wasn’t long before he was called up, three injuries in their guard group (Lin, Vasquez and Whitehead) meant there was desperation for a little help and Ferrell was back with the NBA team before he’d even had a chance to play for their D-League side. Ten games later he’d averaged 5.8 points a game shooting 36.7% from the field and 29.6% from three. Nothing at all special and he was sent back to the D-League (where he’d filled in a couple times during his NBA stint).
And that’s where he stayed for the next couple months, averaging 18.6 points, 5.8 assists with the Long Island Nets, chipping in with a few steals and shooting much better (42.2%/39.3%). All impressive enough that he’s been named to the D-League All Star game, although he won’t play in it.
That’s because two weeks ago, having rejected several offers from overseas in order to keep working at his NBA dream, Yogi Ferrell got another chance. He was given a ten-day contract and with only a day to learn the offence he still chipped in with 9 points & 7 assists in a win over the Spurs. A night later he helped beat the Cavaliers with 19 points and some quality defence on Kyrie Irving. A comfortable win over the Sixers saw Ferrell drop 11p/5a before the big crescendo against the Trail Blazers: 32 points shooting 9 of 11 from deep including a clincher late on for the W. It was all so crazy and so unexpected, Ferrell had emerged from nowhere and was suddenly dominating some of the best point guards out there. Naturally this was never gonna last but he showed enough that the 23 year old was rewarded with a two year contract.
Problem was, this was all with the Dallas Mavericks.
Kenny Atkinson: “I’m just happy for him. We enjoyed working with him. He did a good job with us in Summer League, a good job with us, a good job in the D-League. I’m just happy for the kid. That’s the way you’ve got to look at it. A kid that’s trying to break through. Just happy for the kid.”
For a rebuilding team to miss out on an NBA talent who they had in their grasp sounds bad but compare the figures for the Nets and for the Mavs, he wasn’t doing anything in Brooklyn. The dude has thrived in Dallas because he’s been surrounded with shooters, particularly Dirk Nowitzki who might be down on his usual numbers but playing as a centre he’s been causing all sorts of defensive havoc. Put it this way, if Dirk is setting a screen for that six-foot undrafted rookie there, you’re playing it conservatively to keep Dirk from unleashing a shot (as easily). Ferrell’s gonna have the room to take his own shot or he’s gonna have an open lane to attack the rim, two things he does very well. Plus he has the vision to find other shooters who might get free, such as Harrison Barnes of Seth Curry (who’ve been great lately). It’s just a role that suits him way better, his size doesn’t matter as much and his strengths are put in the spotlight. This is the team that JJ Barea has made a career on, remember.
Against the Nuggets, in his first game since the two-year deal, the lad crashed back to earth. He scored 15 points but shot 4/11 for the game, the Denver guys really attacking him for his inexperience. They took away his jump shot and he wasn’t aggressive enough to attack the big blokes in the paint on his way to the hoop. No assists in the first half, he was much better in the second but by then they were playing way behind on the scoreboard. He’ll learn from that game and be better. He also won’t ever be as good again as he was against Portland. That’s just how these things go, it’s a matter of right team and right time.
Funnily enough the last dude that burst onto the scene as an unknown taking over games was a certain Jeremy Lin, who is the starting PG on the Nets (when fit). And the guy whose starting role he’s been filling in Dallas? That’d be Deron Williams, the former Net All-Star who Brooklyn bought out early last season (pre-Marks) to allow him to play in his home state but mostly to get his contract off the books as his production waned following a number of injuries. Soon the pair are gonna be competing for a starting spot on the Mavs.
As for how he ended up in Dallas, well the rumour is that the Nets were about to recall him with Lin again hurt and Caris LeVert joining him on the sidelines. But they got in too late. Dallas had drawn up a list of three D-League point guards who they thought could help them on ten-dayers (they’d already tried Pierre Jackson to minor success until he got hurt, clearing the path for Ferrell). Yogi was one of them and the reason he got the first phone call was that he happens to share an alma mater with Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner.
Instead the Nets called up Chris McCullough, who is putting up similar D-League numbers and has also been named to the D-League All Star game. Spencer Dinwiddie, who replaced Ferrell last time, has been given a multi-year deal after a ten-day contract of his own which doesn’t look all that flash based on his production but they do like his length and potential. A more successful ten-day convert was Sean Kilpatrick last season who has been a solid contributor. Similarly having only had the one pick at the last draft (and it was #55 overall) they managed to get contracts for LeVert, Whitehead and also Ferrell. One got away, the other two are getting regular minutes. That’s a pretty impressive success rate supposing they’re able to develop that duo into the players they think they can become.
Nobody said that this rebuild would be easy, nor did they say it would be perfect. But the fact that they at least identified Yogi Ferrell as a guy with ability where other teams ignored him shows that they’re on the right track… although it’s sometimes hard to tell from a team that just lost for the 21st time in 22 games.