Sean Marks

And-Ones: Nets’ GM Search, International Players

The team could hire their next GM in the coming days, but no specific deadline is in place, according to Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal.

The general consensus around the league is that the job is Bryan Colangelo’s to lose. Other candidates include Nuggets assistant GM Arturas KarnisovasRockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry and Spurs assistant GM Sean MarksRaskin notes that all the candidates have a background in international basketball, something that will be important for the Nets. Brooklyn doesn’t control its own draft pick until 2019, so acquiring talent through atypical means will be key to putting together a successful roster, Raskin opines.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Owner Mikhail Prokhorov expects to be personally involved with the interviewing process while in Brooklyn on Wednesday when the Nets officially open their new training center, Raskin reports in the same piece.
  • The Spurs were able to trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks last offseason in part because they had targeted Boban Marjanovic as his replacement, Raskin adds in the same piece. Marjanovic, who went undrafted in 2010, signed a one-year, $1.2MM deal with San Antonio in July.
  • The Nuggets‘ second round gamble on Nikola Jokic during the 2014 draft is paying tremendous dividends, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post contends in a piece that examines the Serbian’s journey to the NBA.

Sean Marks Contender For Nets GM Post

Spurs assistant GM Sean Marks is one of eight candidates for the Nets GM job, NetsDaily writes, confirming an initial dispatch from Fred Kerber of the New York Post that executives with two teams had identified Marks as a “guy to watch” as the Nets zero in on a new front office chief (Twitter link). Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com confirmed that Marks is on a list that also includes former Suns and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo, former Cavs and Hawks GM Danny Ferry, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Rockets executive VP of basketball operations Gersson Rosas, and Nets assistant GM Frank Zanin (Twitter link).

It’s unclear who the other two candidates are, though Colangelo appears to be the early favorite. The Nets are conducting interviews this week with the goal of hiring someone before the February 18th trade deadline. Zanin has been running the front office since the team removed Billy King from the GM post last month.

Marks, 40, spent 12 seasons as a player in the NBA, the last of which was 2010/11. He joined the Spurs the next season as a basketball operations analyst and later became director of basketball operations and GM of the team’s D-League affiliate. He was an assistant coach for the 2013/14 season before assuming his current capacity as assistant GM last season.

And-Ones: Union, Ariza, Wizards, O’Neal, Nets

Players union executive director Michele Roberts is making $1.2MM this year, the first of a four-year contract, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.com. Roberts, who officially began the job this week, tells Soshnick that she can earn an additional $600K each year of the pact via bonuses. Either way, it’s significantly less than the $3MM that predecessor Billy Hunter was making per year. Still, Roberts’ salary is on par with what first-year executive directors for the NFL and Major League Baseball players unions have made of late, as Soshnick points out. There’s more on Roberts amid the latest from around the league, as we pass along:

  • Roberts didn’t mince words with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News in declaring her intention to establish credibility with players and not follow the path of Hunter, whose tenure ended amid allegations of corruption. “I’m sure there are people thinking, ‘Ahh, another politician-like person coming in trying to sell us a bunch of bull,’” Roberts said. “And that’s my job to win them over, to tell them, ‘No, this time it will be different or fire me. I want you to if I even dare replicate my predecessor.’”
  • Trevor Ariza was asking for $10MM salaries from the Wizards, but GM Ernie Grunfeld wouldn’t go that high in part because he was pursuing Paul Pierce, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
  • Rasual Butler‘s similarities to Pierce helped him earn a spot on the Wizards preseason roster, but Xavier Silas and Damion James each has a better shot at making it to opening night, as Michael adds in the same piece.
  • Warriors GM Bob Myers spoke with veteran center Jermaine O’Neal on Monday, but Myers tells Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle that he still doesn’t have much clarity about whether O’Neal will retire or re-sign with Golden State.
  • Jerome Jordan‘s deal with the Nets becomes partially guaranteed for $100K should he remain on the roster through October 25th, not $150K as previously reported, a source tells Robert Windrem of Nets Daily (Twitter link).
  • Spurs assistant coach Sean Marks is moving off the bench and returning to the front office in a new role as assistant GM, the team announced. Marks spent two years as an executive before San Antonio made him an assistant coach last season.

Cray Allred contributed to this post. 

Spurs Add Sean Marks To Coaching Staff

According to MySanAntonio.com's Dan McCarney, the Spurs have moved Sean Marks from the front office to the sidelines, where he'll be an assistant coach on Gregg Popovich's staff next season. 

A former player for the team as well, the 38-year-old Marks will replace the recently departed Brett Brown, who became head coach of the Sixers this offseason. 

Texas Notes: Spurs, Lin, Rockets, Holloway

We rounded up news from the Mavericks earlier today as they continue their European tour, but there's still more from the Lone Star state, where the Spurs, with an 18-to-1 shot, are the most likely of the three Texas teams to win the championship, according to odds released today by the Bovada sports book.

  • The Spurs have announced Sean Marks as their new director of basketball operations and GM of the Austin Toros, their D-League affiliate.
  • The Rockets' commitment of more than $25MM to Jeremy Lin, a player with a tiny sample size of success whom the Knicks passed on keeping, says much about the team's inability to break out of a cycle of mediocrity, Fran Blinebury of Rockets.com writes.
  • With 11 players eligible to be sent down to the D-League at some point this season, Gino Pilato of Ridiculous Upside examines how the Rio Grande Valley Vipers will play a key role in player development this season for the Rockets, their parent club. Pilato notes Scott Machado and Kyle Fogg have given their blessing to D-League assignments this season if the Rockets want to send them down.
  • Fellow Ridiculous Upside scribe Keith Schlosser wonders what's next for former Xavier guard Tu Holloway, a training camp invitee whom the Mavs curiously let go before camp even began.