From Prokhorov to Probiotic: A Culture Change Underway in Brooklyn
With the hire of Sean Marks as general manager, the Brooklyn Nets have traded in their sledge hammer for an industrial-sized container of Greek yogurt. Although he is operating under the constraints of reckless past decisions, the former Spurs assistant has made team culture the paramount feature of his team building philosophy. Any long-time NBA fan knows that promises of change – weight loss, maturation, improved morale — float around every summer, often amounting to little more than words of empty conviction. For Marks, however, the proof is in the pudding.
Despite the fact that the season will undoubtedly be pockmarked with many crying MJ moments, there is finally reason to feel the franchise is in able hands once again. As hard as it may be to associate the Nets with competence, here are a few things actually going well in Brooklyn right now.
Clarity
The mortgaging of the team’s future in the Boston trade, an unmitigated disaster in almost every way, has nevertheless provided Marks with a sense of clarity moving forward. He does not have to wrestle with the question of tanking or ask fans for their patience as they pay expensive ticket prices to watch an intentionally bad team run its course through “the process”. Also, he does not have to worry about the psychological toll that tanking has on the players involved.
While I am of course not arguing that trading away all of the team’s first round picks was good for the franchise or will ultimately benefit them in some perverse way moving forward, it does make the waters less murky and provide Marks with a unique, clearly delineated lateral structure for climbing out of the dumpster fire.
Staff Overhaul
Marks knew, however, that a clear vision means nothing without cohesiveness between management and staff. As such, the Nets are coming in with a brand new group of coaches this season. New head coach Kenny Atkinson is by all accounts an in-the-trenches work horse, with a penchant for delivering complicated schemes in a comprehensible manner, and relating to his players. This is a welcome departure from the completely decent but old school Lionel Hollins.
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Atkinson, who previously served as a lead assistant in Atlanta, came highly recommended by Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer, who Marks knows from their days together in San Antonio. This is not the only Spurs connection on the new staff, however. Two of Atkinson’s new assistants, Jacque Vaughn and Bret Brielmaier, come from the San Antonio coaching tree. Chris Fleming and Mike Batiste directly serve Marks’ desire to tap the European market. Fleming, whom Atkinson played with in college, is the German national team coach and Batiste had a long, storied career overseas. Adam Harrington will work on skills development and both Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant have
raved about the folds that he has added
to their games.
The overarching theme here is the staff directly reflects on Marks’ three major priorities: culture, player development and international outreach.
Fit
The team’s overhaul extends beyond the coaching staff of course. Of the 15 guaranteed contracts heading into this season, ten of those guys are new to the team. Like the approach with the coaching staff, Marks targeted players known for doing things “the right way” and are likely to fit into the team’s new culture. What they lack in talent they compensate in mentality. Breaking that down further, the new players fall into the following categories:
Mentors: Foye, Scola and Vasquez. These guys aren’t running on empty just yet but their primary role on the team is to lead, both vocally and through their day-to-day actions.
Mid-tier guys with something to prove: Lin, Trevor Booker, Joe Harris. One of the things that I really liked about Marks’ approach to the offseason was his focus on attainable targets. He didn’t waste his time or energy going after guys who were never coming to Brooklyn. Jeremy Lin gets along famously well with new head coach Kenny Atkinson and has not been shy about wanting the keys to the jeep. Trevor Booker, while limited skills wise, works really hard, showed some real promise as a starter, and recently won the NBPA “best teammate” award. Harris never really got a shot on a loaded Cleveland roster, but he played four years under one of the best college coaches in the country and he can fill it up from deep.
The guys he didn’t get are also quite telling and fall within this subset. Marks’ two major off-season investments, Allen Crabbe and Tyler Johnson, were both matched by their respective teams. But Marks’ approach was clear, find an attainable target and gamble by overpaying for guys that will come to Brooklyn and are likely to flourish in a bigger role. Of equal importance they stayed away from talented, but corrosive players who were there for the taking.
This isn’t the sexiest approach in the world, but it’s the most reasonable way to grow when you have a bad team without potential lottery picks at your disposal.
Foreign Market: Justin Hamilton. Marks has not been shy about turning to foreign markets as an affordable means of mitigating the picks lost in the Boston trade. He was close to landing Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez, as well, but found good value in Justin Hamilton. Hamilton is a stretch-five who showed some promise in Miami and Minnesota before ultimately heading overseas to improve his body and round out his game. Mining the foreign markets will continue to be part of the Nets’ approach to retooling as they wait until 2019 to regain full control of their first round picks.
The Young Guys: The trade hasn’t left Brooklyn completely void of young talent. Perhaps most importantly, the young guys who are there have a great structure in place to grow — a renowned player’s coach and player development guru in Kenny Atkinson, a team full of role models, and a general manager who prioritizes stability and emotional well-being.
Upside and Motor’s own Brendon Kleen did a really nice job of profiling Brooklyn’s go-for-broke decision to draft Caris LeVert. The rest of the young guys on the team profile in a similar way as guys who have some risks but could far exceed their draft position if given the space and knowledge to grow:
Anthony Bennett: If there was ever a nurturing environment for the fragile, former No. 1 pick to revitalize his career, Brooklyn is the place. The physical health issues are reportedly behind him but confidence can’t be fixed with a scalpel.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson: The undisputed stud of the Nets youth movement needs a jumper like I need coffee on Monday morning but his perimeter defense, lateral quickness and slashing skills are pretty special.
Isaiah Whitehead: The Nets had their eyes on the Coney Island product for months and were thrilled to acquire him by way of Utah with the No. 42 pick in this year’s draft. His shooting percentages in college and over the summer left something to be desired but the Nets like the versatility that his size and strength offers from the guard position.
Chris McCullough: The young 6-11 Syracuse big man was out most of last season with an injury but he’s back now. He runs the floor like a gazelle and shows a ton of promise, but he’s still pretty hopeless around the rim, as evidenced by his 36 percent shooting during summer league.
Sean Marks has a long road ahead of him but he seems to be on the right track. My major concern is that Prokhorov won’t have the patience to allow Marks to see his plan to the end. Starting the job with a hand tied behind his back has necessitated creative solutions. So far the plan is clear — build a positive culture through strong, cohesive leadership, find guys who fit the mold, tap the foreign market and trust your team turn to late draft upside into value.
Once it’s clear that the Nets are no longer a disaster, Marks can move on to the next phase of the rebuild and attempt to lure bigger stars to the state-of-the-art facilities and bright lights of Manhattan.