Sean Marks Press Conference | July 8, 2024 | Brooklyn Nets

Sean Marks Press Conference | July 8, 2024 | Brooklyn Nets

what brought you to move on for M I think it’s a numerous factors right when you’re you’re weighing up the the situation we find ourselves in as a team as organization the timing of such and then you know it’s it’s a difficult decision because maau was a focal point of this organization for the last year since we did the trade so um not an easy decision but at the same time when you have an offer like we did uh from New York I think that sets us up on a very very clear Direction and Pathway to continue to build this team with sustainable success and that’s that’s the ultimate goal here it was reported for a while that you had been turning down deals for him was this just a better deal or was uh did something did something change that no I mean look there there’s no shortage of interest in Mel around the league right for the player he is the person he is and obviously the contract he’s on so uh but you know in terms of this particular deal this was by far um the best deal uh for our organization at this particular time to do it and uh hence was that a deal that I guess for lack of a better term you were sitting on for a while and if so did he Express either a lack of confidence in what was going on here or a desire to leave for whatever reason that kind of made you change your mind on this deal you in J yeah no the the for the first part of that Brian um no we were not stay on this deal for very long at all um Leon and I talked for a couple of days on this thing and it moved very very quickly and you could tell the how interested they were in in adding M to that group which obviously that’s been talked about for for a variety of different reasons uh and M didn’t know until I called him and told him say hey look we’re getting down here so there was I think it’s been reported that M wanted to leave or requested a tribe that could not be further from the truth I think that’s just not in M’s character it’s not who he is uh and and that would that definitely did not happen but he was he was told by me when I called him up and uh let him know that we’re at the uh to yard line you said initially timing was part of this was part of that the fact that the Houston deal was available like were the two kind of contingent on each other do you see them as kind of connected yeah they’re they’re absolutely great question and and they’re absolutely connected you know I I think when you look at doing the deal we did with with the Knicks um that was really only possible by getting you know controlling our own destiny to a little bit more where we get the our picks back from Houston so being able to do those two deals simultaneously uh if you will certainly helps you know you know send us on that pathway that we talked about how important was it to retain a guy like Nick as a as a homegrown talent and and where do you see his game continuing to grow yeah very important I I I think you know I give Nick a heck of a lot of credit for seeing the next steps he’s taken year by year with with his game um and it’s it’s it’s great to find a guy in college and and I I give our our draft process a lot of credit BJ Johnson who’s run that for the last few years did a hick of a job in uh in evaluating and finding Nick and being able to draft Nick where we did and now keep him and over the course of these last couple years development you know that not only Nick has participated in but with our coaches staff so it’s it’s great to have homegrown Talent here I think Nick fits in a variety of different Pathways you know we want to go he’s Young uh I think he’s still scratching the surface in here and and just um I just loved his overall approach to him wanting more and more and more development so now you know with some of the changes to our roster I think we’ll see even more from Nick as as we move forward speaking of the roster obviously now with I guess the rebuild fully here I guess what would be some of those next steps you may be looking at as far as just where this roster can go and just kind of what are maybe the next moves for what you like to do yeah I think we have to be patient you know we’re not going to be in a hurry there’s no there’s not a sort of a where you have to trade this or you have to make this or you have to trade these assets that with the draft assets that we’ve got or anything like that I think this is something that we uh will continue to be strategic on and uh let it play out you know free agency is still going I know it’s moving it sort of snails place around the league right now but um that’s still going so let’s see what that how that shakes out over summer league and so forth and then into the season and we’ll go from there but you know this build um you know do I think it’s going to take time I mean I think will be strategic in it but I I do think being in this market with this you know amount of draft assets you know we’ve done it before and so again I think we could you know not that it’s going to be expedited by any means but I think you know it’s I don’t think it’s a long process either what’s it been like having a new head coach as you navigate free agency in these changes to the roster great I I’ve really thoroughly enjoyed Jordy and and the entire coaching staff here I think you can see the energy in the gym you know now that they’re practicing for summer league that’s been terrific the sweet Equity this this coaching group is putting on the floor with our guys there’s a different there’s a different feel different vibe every coaching staff comes in with its with its own sort of culture and and Vibe as you will but um I’ve I’ve been really really thrilled with how this group and specifically Jordy is approaching this and you know he’s got his uh work cut out for him right now with with with Team Canada but it’s going to be great to go there and support him and so we’re taking a group down there to uh to to see him in Vegas as well how much of the sort of Acclaim nature of the 25 and 26 draft classes was a factor in the decision- making particularly the Houston deal yeah I mean that’s always a factor in it I mean we’re always looking two three four years ahead you know so to try and you know navigate a pathway and I think when we’re looking at this not holding our picks obviously that would have been detrimental to those two draft classes so um you know now we know we have quite a number of picks you know especially in 25 we’ll see how we navigate that but we’re excited about you know what the future holds for not only our College Scouts but how we build this up and and through through the draft Sean you guys got Nick resigned early but is there any updates you can give us in terms of where the team currently stands with its other free agents well the hope is that uh trendon will be back I mean um we we would love him to be part of this group so that that would be a priority for us um the rest of it I think we’re just letting the dust settle a little bit on free agency seeing what happens around the league land skape and um and then we’ll navigate that you know as we pull you hadn’t done a deal with the Knicks the Nets in general I mean is it I imagine there are some teams you could probably text a guy and you get right to a real negotiation when you have never done a deal with someone was it slow at all is it awkward I mean is it uh no no it wasn’t I mean Leon and I have known each other for you know at least a couple decades so there’s there’s no shortage of communication there with with the next and again I’m not worried about doing a deal you know with them we we do a deal you know that we feel like is the best deal for for the Brooklyn Nets moving forward and and we thought that was that was the right deal at the right time for us he didn’t have to ask for his phone number then or anything oh no no I can reach him I don’t about you guys I can reach him Sean the first when you came here obviously the team was in a rebuild but you know much different not having control of your own draft picks and now also having a lot of draft picks from other places when you compare you know how how you did it that time versus how you can do it now how do you think you know that will change your approach if it does it all yeah no look I think this great lessons you know as we we built this the first time took a couple years we built through office sheets we built through cap space um being creative and some of those uh the signings that we made then you know we’ll take that and try and you know implement the same thing as we do it now but again we didn’t have a h draft picks back then so um I I do know BJ and the rest of our College Scouts are extremely excited about the opportunity they have in front of them and and how we do it again you know it sounds a little mundane but we’ll be strategic and how we continue to build we this time we can build through the cap space that we’ll have and and also it’s a new CBA so I think that affects everybody a little differently and I think having flexibility moving into this new CBA and the new realm because nobody’s quite sure how it’s going to be I mean you look at the free agency right now and how it’s affecting different teams so for us to maintain that flexibility you know into this season is is pretty important for us this isn’t quite the same as when you’re trading KD and you know at that point you thought you were trying to compete for championships and the like but you were pretty like clear at that time that you still wanted to compete you still wanted to try to make the playoffs and all of that and like Mel was going to be a big part of that like just from an organizational perspective what did it take to get from kind of point a when you’re on this one path to kind of say all right we have to kind of look at this from a different angle yeah I think you have to look yourself in the mirror and as an organization you have to look and say okay what’s the the best path for us moving forward here and how how do we do this and how do we have that sustainable success that we want so um when you’re able to you know Garner that amount of draft assets you know over the course of the last year I think that’s that that’s going to help us in our trajectory long term and so forth so now you you mentioned competing it doesn’t mean you know I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Jordi is not going to want to compete I mean that’s that’s in his DNA to compete so um he’ll go out there and whatever the roster may look like these guys will try and compete and it’ll be an incredible opportunity for for some of these young guys you know and the Vets to go out and and you show the world what they’ve got you mentioned Jordy being with Team Canada for the past week or so like you knew this was going to happen but what is it actually been like day today when he’s not been here how in the loop has he been how how does it work very much so I mean I think we talk every day and he’s he’s in in complete conversations in communication with with the coaching staff here Steve hitel is is is running the summer league team right now out there so you know we’re completely in sync you know between front office and coaching and and I know jordy’s jordy’s watching it all on TV as well but again you know we’re watching his practices as well so okay when you know I think a lot of people obviously were expecting that M would be here and that you guys were going to stay on that path when you guys were you know in negotiations with Jordy was it discussed that this is a potential route that you guys could be going and that things could you know look a lot differently yeah great question and I and I think it’s very important to be upfront you know when you’re hiring a coach or any staff member for that matter for them to know look hey look there’s a variety of different Pathways we can go down and we knew the flexibility that we had in terms of the roster the cap the salaries that we have that this could be one of them I mean we’re not going to shy away from that so he he knew well ahead that you know this was an Avenue that we could be going down and was and has bought in completely to not only when we first signed him but you know to the outcome now any point did you get particularly close to making a kind of you know a move for say another star to to to bring here to play with mov you know we we look at everything so you know obviously we wanted to add talent to this roster over the course of last year and we continue to you know look at those opportunities and be very opportunistic with that um at the same time you know this pathway affords us the ability for really again that sustainable success I’ve talked about and and I think again an offer like this from from a team you know we’re not going to turn that down what do you expect to see from Noah DQ and Jaylen in year two well you know it’s it’s health for one thing for for for DQ for sure um that’ll be great I mean they’re they’re out there on the court right now so there’s there’s no uh hinderance there to to his health but I think from from Noah’s standpoint you know we’ve all been pretty excited about how he finished last year and also now taking that and can you take next steps during summer league um summer league is interesting because it’s not always the best fit for for players you know and especially bigs you know I mean it does doesn’t always suit bigs but I think what Noah has added to his game you know over playing with the G league and and and you know I think muon and the group down there have done a heck of a job you know developing him so uh it’s exciting to see what he’s done this summer and of course Jaylen Jaylen showed glimpses that you know he started for us you know so it’s it’s another great opportunity for these guys to go out there have the ball in their hands more show what they’ve worked on and compete and I mean that’s going to that’s going to be sort of the narrative for our sum League team we want to go out there and compete in the highest level with d obviously I think last time we spoke you said he would be available is there any limits on what he can do this summer no at this point we’re going to throw him out there and I mean he hasn’t played in two years so I think that’s you know on a consistent basis so you know I think we have to temper that a little bit but at the same time you know I know the young man is itching to get out there and play and get back to form so that’s exciting for us to see how it goes and and hopefully not only through summer league but you know you know into into the off season and training camp and so forth and and let him let him just take his time a little bit but at the same time you got to throw him out there this is kind of related to the question about jordy’s hiring but when you’re negotiating with Nick and being upfront with him about the ways the roster could go did that affect do you think that affected his decision- making at all how did that maybe weigh on him yeah you know probably a good question for Nick I mean we were up front with Nick and and told him that look the pathway of the team you know we’re not going to be adding you know the Stars right now that you want and I think for us to have success long term um this is this is a pathway that we could go down so he knew up front which which is um you know again always good to be honest and so forth and and he wants to be a part of it it’s going to be a great opportunity for him to show more which uh I think we’re all pretty excited about when you as as an example when you’re saying okay we’re not going to be adding the star I’m curious whether the pursuit to look for a star whoever that is I’m not even name names but um did the did the clarity that you weren’t going to be adding a star to pair with male did that influence the decision okay we’ll pivot away and go in this direction we would have tried to go this direction we can’t now we’ll go this direction well it didn’t even really get to that because we did the trade first before we got to sort of you know into the opportunity to sign you know ad Stars so I meant over the course of say this either last summer or at the deadline over the course of the year that’s what I meant you know I I think yeah it’s a good question Bri I think we’re weighing the options of like you know what’s the best thing timing wise for for the franchise here and I I believe that this was the best pathway for us to go down right now instead of waiting and we could have kept waiting I mean there’s no shortage of people people that you know want to play with with M and and and the likes because you know he’s a heck of a talent out there and we we’ll miss him but at the same time this for us you know leads a very very clear pathway and direction for us how we’re going to build and and with’ with’ this group has drafted well and we hope we continue to do that did anything you saw from him last season make you sort of second guess you know whether he was you it was a good year but it wasn’t what he did in the two months after he came yeah no I mean he he’s a of a talent there’s no there’s no question there I wouldn’t even want to sick and guess Ma and so forth I mean he he’s a talented talented young man both on and off the court adds a heck of a lot to the locker room your environment pleasure to be around so uh yeah nothing’s nothing’s changed in that you know any team would be lucky to have him you know cam Johnson resigned cam Johnson resigned last year we know how close he was with Mel um and now you know I’m sure he’s seen his name in trade rumors and the like like what’s kind of your read on how he’s kind of taking this new Direction yeah we’ we’ve had we”ve had some conversations with with all the vits on the team because it does weigh on people and and I I don’t you know just try and sort of Breeze over that because it it’s it’s a family and you want to say hey this is a close-nit group it’s a close locker locker room in there and and you know when one of their own leaves it’s it hits home it it’s that’s reality of pro sports so I think you have to be upfront and honest with it and I think you know everybody on in not only this team but I would say around the league really realizes like look it’s Pro Sports I’ve been in that locker room I I understand what it looks like and what it seems like and you do have to move on and and so forth but again you want to be upfront honest and ultimately the goal for us is to find continuity right whether that’s through a group of young guys building and growing here together adding pieces in free agency that we have the opportunity to do or or trade for guys which we can we can do so um the flexibility for us you know is is is pretty exciting intriguing moving forward

Nets General Manager Sean Marks met with the media to talk about re-signing Nic Claxton, Summer League and more.

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