Nets general manager Sean Marks is expected to remain in charge of Brooklyn’s front office in 2023/24, multiple sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
As Lewis writes, the past couple seasons have been nothing if not turbulent for both Marks and the Nets, mainly due to off-court controversies.
To open 2021/22, Kyrie Irving refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which reportedly played a role in James Harden requesting a trade ahead of last year’s deadline. The primary piece the Nets received in return, Ben Simmons, didn’t end up playing last season and underwent back surgery — he hasn’t looked like his old self for the majority of this season.
Last offseason, Kevin Durant requested his own trade and reportedly tried to have former head coach Steve Nash and Marks fired. Brooklyn eventually worked things out with Durant and he remained with the team heading into this season.
The Nets had a rough start to ’22/23, going 2-5 before parting ways with Nash. Things started to turn in a positive direction after Jacque Vaughn was promoted to interim head coach, then Irving was suspended by Brooklyn promoting an antisemitic film on social media. He wound up missing eight games, with the team going 5-3 in his absence.
The team was firing on all cylinders once Irving returned, with Durant playing at an MVP level. At one point the Nets won 18 of 20 games, but then Durant went down with a knee injury. Irving was reportedly unhappy with the team’s contract extension offer in early February and requested — and was granted — a trade. Durant then quietly requested his own trade to Phoenix, and was sent to the Suns on February 9.
Marks did the best he could to recoup value for the now-departed star trio, but the championship window certainly appears to be closed in the short term. That led some to wonder whether his job might be in jeopardy, according to Lewis.
However, one source tells Lewis that “ownership has full confidence” in Marks and the rest of the front office’s ability, while another tells Lewis that Marks and owner Joe Tsai are “in lockstep.”
As Lewis notes, the Nets decided to give Vaughn a multiyear contract extension after the trade deadline, with Marks quoted in the press release. That signaled that he might remain the club’s lead decision-maker for the basketball operations department.
A former NBA player, Marks has been GM of the Nets since February 2016.
Lewis writes that “Marks’ current contractual status is unclear.” A report (subscriber link) last summer from Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News indicated that Marks had signed a contract extension, but both Lewis and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic (Twitter links) heard differently.
Wow… What other GM you know can trade away 3 Superstars and get one potential Allstar in return and keep his job. It’s a close race for worse GM of the year between Sean marks and twolves Tim Connelly. Also check out kevin Wildes, all the reasons Marks shouldve been fired. link to youtu.be
Sean Marks is the same GM that drafted and/or developed D’angelo Russell, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, 20th picks Jarrett Allen, Cam Thomas and Caris Levert, and 2nd rounder Nic Claxton. I’ll admit that his trades havent been very good such as Shamet for Saddiq Bey, KD for Bridges and picks (Bridges is great but I feel like they could have gotten better players for him), Harden for Ben Simmons was awful. I dont mind the Harden for Nets players + picks or Kyrie Irving for what they got frame Dallas
Don’t forget Rafael Stone!
Sean Marks is a great GM, I hope the Nets keep him as long as he wants the job. People who dont watch the Nets don’t know how much hes changed the franchise for the better. His trades are mediocre but his drafting ability is amazing. He finds guys in the 20s and second round that can contribute at the NBA level better than almost every gm
“Great GM?” Are we talking about the same GM who traded away Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Jarret Allen, Caris Levert, Spencer Dinwiddie, D’Angelo russell…. And Brooke lopez. That same Gm shouldn’t be fired?
Again when you have two superstar players telling you the GM to get the deal done and give to the Rockets everything they are asking for because they want play with there other superstar buddy are you as the GM going to say no and risk them ask the owner to for them to fire you?
He has completely ruined the Nets hopefully he will learn from his own mistakes.
Kyrie and KD ruined the Nets but Marks shipped them both out of town so things are looking up.
The problem started when Sean Marks select his friend Steve Nash without any coaching experience for the Head Coach position. The rest is history.
Oh please such an ill informed take. Yes lets pretend KD and Kyrie didn’t have a hand in firing the old couch and let also forget they didn’t have hand or an opinion on Nash coming in a head couch. Please stop posting nonsense.
The one big mistake Marks made was betting on those two players as people. Most of the problems since then (coaching, off the court issues, questionable roster moves, front office power dynamics issues) stemmed from that.
I think he deserves another chance starting with a clean slate. His track record operating under those circumstances is still pretty good. Certainly no worse than many other GMs out there. And his draft record is solid.
Marks didn’t select Nash to be the babysitter. His team was broken up and his coach fired by a weak, star sniffing owner. Kyrie declared himself and KD the coach right after arriving. I regret that Marks can make chicken salad out of the chicken Kyrie the owner gave him.
The players need a place to make their millions. Grow a set and run the team like a real business. Mark Cuban ruined the Association with his antics.