Nets' Sean Marks puts superteam fiasco behind him as team plans offseason
Nets general manager Sean Marks speaks to the media before a game against the Bulls at Barclays Center on Feb. 9. Credit: Brad Penner
The Nets’ season can almost be divided in two halves: Life before Feb. 6, when Kyrie Irving was traded, and after Feb. 9, when Kevin Durant was traded.
It leads to a difficult postseason evaluation, but general manager Sean Marks tried to make sense of it Sunday as the Nets did exit interviews.
On one hand, the superteam experiment with Durant, Irving and James Harden was a colossal failure, with much blame to distribute around. On the other hand, the current group, led by Mikal Bridges, shows promise.
“I don’t want to look past them, and they are the priority,” Marks said of the current Nets. “That doesn’t mean we don’t look back and say what if, had we done this? Should we have done this? So it gives us a moment to reflect and say, ‘Well, did we have the right process in place?’ ”
Durant’s trade was the final stamp on a near four-year plan that ended with only one playoff series win. But Marks also saw progress in Bridges, Cam Johnson and Spencer Dinwiddie becoming impact players in 27 games before the Nets were swept by the 76ers in the first round.
It’s why he wants to be strategic this offseason and decide the next steps with patience and poise. The Nets not only have the 21st and 22nd picks in this year’s draft but have more first-round picks through 2030 than all but three other teams.
Johnson is a restricted free agent. Seth Curry and Yuta Watanabe are the team’s lone unrestricted free agents.
“I think the decision is not entirely going to be up to the Nets, right? The players have to make their own decisions as well,” Marks said. “So hopefully we’ve put ourselves in a place to attract our own group to come back, attract free agents.”
Marks said the Nets will look to add more size and nastiness after being outrebounded by 54 in their four games against the 76ers. There’s also the question of whether they need another elite scorer besides Bridges.
Another priority? Ben Simmons’ health. He’s been sidelined since Feb. 15 with a back injury. In the 42 games he played, Simmons averaged only 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
Marks said Simmons won’t require another surgery at this point and he’s “checking the boxes” on his rehab progress. The plan for now is to have Simmons, who is owed at least $77 million the next two seasons, to be back to 100% probably by Sept. 1.
“That would be the goal that he’s a full-go in training camp and ready to go,” Marks said.
As for Johnson, he met with Marks and coach Jacque Vaughn before his media availability. Both made clear to Johnson they’d like the fourth-year forward to return. Johnson could command a salary of at least $20 million per year this summer in free agency.
Johnson said he hasn’t evaluated his future and will begin that process now with his agent and family. But he found plenty to love with the Nets, whether it was Vaughn, the players or the “freaking incredible” team chefs.
“That is not lost upon me. I take that into very serious consideration and I don’t assume that’s the case everywhere,” Johnson said. “I think there’s a special group of people here.”
But where the Nets go next will be framed by the past as much as this current team. Marks said the front office will do its due diligence to see how this team builds and comes together.
It doesn’t mean the Nets won’t chase big-name players again. Yet time will tell as they look to keep moving past the short-lived Durant-Irving-Harden tenure.
“That era is gone and we’re on to something new here,” Marks said. “It’s a new era and it’s an exciting one, one that I think the borough of Brooklyn can be proud of and get behind, and these young men will be exciting to watch for years to come.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
