The Nets made a big move this offseason: parting ways with their best player, Mikal Bridges.
And not for several very good players, but essentially in exchange for several draft rounds: the Knicks' first rounds in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031, the right to exchange the first round in 2028 with New York, as well as the Bucks' first and second rounds in 2025.
Thus, the Brooklyn franchise will be able to speak several times during the first round of the 2025 Draft, considered exceptional. An interesting weapon to bounce back. Which allows Sean Marks to imagine that the reconstruction started this summer will not last.
“Will it last? We will be strategic,” Nets GM announces. “With so many rounds of Draft, we've already done it. The process won't be accelerated, far from it, but I don't think it will be long.”
Rebuilding on a field of ruins, or at least on a less than advantageous situation, Sean Marks has indeed already done it. When he arrived at the helm of the franchise in 2016, the former Spurs player had to repair the mistakes made and erase the failed experiment with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, which had not allowed them to win the title and which had especially deprived the franchise of first round draft picks for two years…
An offer that cannot be refused…
Finally, in 2019, after a lot of work, the GM managed to convince Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to sign with Brooklyn. Of course, once again, it didn't produce the desired result, but the rebuild was short and hopes were very high.
“The franchise needs to look in the mirror and ask itself what is the best path forward. How do we do that and how do we achieve the sustainable success we want?” continues the leader. “With this amount of draft rounds, I think it can help us in the long term.”
Wasn't it easier to go far with Mikal Bridges? Who admittedly missed his season, he says so himself, but remains a complete player, capable of averaging 19.6 points. Is he the player who asked to leave?
“It was said that Mikal wanted to leave and had asked for a transfer. It couldn't be more wrong. It's not his character. He's not like that and it didn't happen that way. I was the one who called him to tell him that we were close to an agreement,” Sean Marks answers. “It was a difficult decision because he had been the center of our franchise since the trade last season. At the same time, when an offer like New York's comes along, we have a very clear direction and path to continue building this team toward sustained success, which remains the ultimate goal.”
