Must read - How the Nets pulled it off

[panthermark]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2844892-kevin-durants-injury-timeline-free-agent-process-discussed-by-nets-sean-marks

KD already knew he was going to the Nets. But the backstory on how the Nets got there is amazing. They brought in a new GM and they changed EVERYTHING.

[RememberLu]

Hiring a new GM, is that even allowed? As a Bulls fan I have no experience of this

[bullsnewdynasty]

He might not have talked to them, but his agent definitely did. It's just semantics. Nets probably don't want to get in trouble for tampering.

[meekrab]

How the Nets pulled it off: Have a superstar dead set on signing with you, then have one of his less talented friends come along with him.

[League Circles]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2844892-kevin-durants-injury-timeline-free-agent-process-discussed-by-nets-sean-marks

KD already knew he was going to the Nets. But the backstory on how the Nets got there is amazing. They brought in a new GM and they changed EVERYTHING.

I must be missing something, because despite scouring the page for a link to a page 2, I read virtually nothing that describes anything amazing. I don't even read anything about hiring a new GM so I must be missing some of the content there.

If KD did commit without talking to them, that kinda means that other than having the cap space, their new GM was not a factor.

[panthermark]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2844892-kevin-durants-injury-timeline-free-agent-process-discussed-by-nets-sean-marks

KD already knew he was going to the Nets. But the backstory on how the Nets got there is amazing. They brought in a new GM and they changed EVERYTHING.

I must be missing something, because despite scouring the page for a link to a page 2, I read virtually nothing that describes anything amazing. I don't even read anything about hiring a new GM so I must be missing some of the content there.

If KD did commit without talking to them, that kinda means that other than having the cap space, their new GM was not a factor.

Sorry, my kids just got here. I didn't get a chance to mention the link within the article.
https://www.si.com/nba/2019/07/09/kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-brooklyn-nets-free-agency-behind-the-scenes?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=sinow&xid=socialflow_twitter_si&utm_medium=social

[panthermark]

From the SI link

Let’s stipulate: For the Nets to pull off this offseason heist, location mattered. For months, Durant had been linked with the Knicks. A successful, three-year partnership with Golden State that yielded three Finals trips and two titles was winding down, and there was belief around the league that Durant wanted something different. The Knicks could offer the 30-year-old an opportunity to be the face of—all boils aside—one of the NBA’s flagship franchises. Being in New York gave Durant the chance to take more of a hands-on role with Thirty Five Ventures, the Manhattan-based business and entertainment enterprise Durant cofounded with his manager, Rich Kleiman. Irving, raised on New Jersey blacktops and coming off a chaotic two-season run in Boston, was keenly interested in playing closer to his roots.

Marks now admits that it had long been his hope that the Nets would be positioned to be players in one of the most ravenously anticipated free-agent classes in NBA history. “We planned a couple years out that we could have an opportunity here,” he says. “I think when you have a window or you have an opportunity to swing for it and take a chance, take a challenge, and you can do it with the right people, that’s when you have to do it.”

He understood the undeniable appeal of the City, but the organization had to have some allure as well. Tanking was off the table—and not just because the Nets didn’t own their first-round picks. In 2017, Marks made a deal with the Lakers and absorbed center Timofey Mozgov’s cumbersome contract to acquire guard D’Angelo Russell, an immature former No. 2 pick who would become the Nets’ first All-Star since 2014. (Russell was part of last week’s sign-and-trade that brought Durant to Brooklyn.) He also took on forward Andrew Nicholson’s deal with the Wizards in exchange for the first-round pick that became Jarrett Allen, the team’s springy center.

Player development became a priority. In April 2016, Marks hired Kenny Atkinson, a Hawks assistant with an earned reputation as one of the NBA’s top developmental coaches. Marks invested in the analytics department. He fleshed out the sports-performance team, thinking outside the box: Zach Weatherford, the director of player performance, came from U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, where he trained SEALs; Dan Meehan, the team’s strength-and-conditioning coach, held the same title with an Australian rules football team in Melbourne.

“It was the most thorough training staff I’ve ever been a part of,” says Jared Dudley, who spent last season with the Nets, his sixth NBA team. Every muscle is tested regularly. Catapult, a GPS technology used to track player movements, helps with load management. “They had so many different ideas,” says DeMarre Carroll, a seven-team vet who played the past two seasons in Brooklyn. “Sometimes in the NBA you get caught up with the traditional stuff.”

Culture took on new importance. In two seasons as a player in San Antonio, Marks was a fringe contributor. But he was treated as well as Tim Duncan. The Spurs’ family atmosphere resonated with Marks. How they treated his wife, Jennifer. How they treated his kids. He was determined to bring that to Brooklyn. So the wives of incoming players now receive flowers. Kids get boxes of Nets gear. After Dudley signed with the Lakers last week, his wife received a card, thanking her for being part of the organization. Says Dudley, “The way they treated my family—no organization has come close.”

Still, results matter, and that feel-good vibe was threatened last fall, during an eight-game losing streak. Reports about Atkinson’s job security filtered into the locker room. Guard Caris LeVert, a blooming star, was lost until midseason with an ankle injury. Players wondered: With the Nets finally in control of their draft pick, would they tank the season away? Atkinson called three of the team’s veterans—Dudley, Carroll and Ed Davis—into a meeting. His message to them: Ownership called. There would be no tanking. Their message to him: Don’t sacrifice wins for the sake of development. Play the best players. Atkinson agreed. A players-only film session followed. Laziness was called out. Sloppiness. Bad body language. Frustrations were aired. “That film session,” says Dudley, “was the best thing for us.” They followed up the meeting with seven straight wins and surged into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed.

[weneeda2guard]

You have to have a front office that can be power players. You look at the nets situation it was literally one of the worst ever and now they are contenders. Even what took place in Toronto. John paxson is just not on that level. We are forced to have to make excuses for mediocrity to maintain a level of sanity. Its damn near a church around here how we have to rely on faith and hope for the future.

[panthermark]

You have to have a front office that can be power players. You look at the nets situation it was literally one of the worst ever and now they are contenders. Even what took place in Toronto. John paxson is just not on that level. We are forced to have to make excuses for mediocrity to maintain a level of sanity. Its damn near a church around here how we have to rely on faith and hope for the future.

Yup, they hired Marks in February of 2016 to dig the Nets out of the 2013 disaster. He went in and changed everything....location matter. Culture matters. Training, medical staff, modern building, new colors.....the whole works.

We fool ourselves into thinking...well...if we can just get to "average", top FA's will come here.

I don't know of the FO really believes that, or just sells it to the fans...but too many fans defend it. Maybe we don't have a choice, because they are not going to fire themselves.

[stepic]

If the Nets aren’t in New York, they don’t sign Durant. Simple.

[League Circles]

You have to have a front office that can be power players. You look at the nets situation it was literally one of the worst ever and now they are contenders. Even what took place in Toronto. John paxson is just not on that level. We are forced to have to make excuses for mediocrity to maintain a level of sanity. Its damn near a church around here how we have to rely on faith and hope for the future.

The Nets are contenders? They stand a solid chance to be worse than last year and then in 2020-21 they MIGHT be contenders, or just as easily be a 6th seed.

Kyrie is often injured and is a poor leader and has never really done much of note without Lebron. Durant was amazing but has suffered a consistently career altering injury and is aging. I think he might be an all star again perhaps, but his days as a superstar are likely over IMO.

I'm not saying these were not good moves by the Nets or that they should have done differently. I'm just saying there's no reason to expect them to be an excellent team in my opinion.

[panthermark]

If the Nets aren’t in New York, they don’t sign Durant. Simple.

If the Nets were the old Nets...they don't sign Durant.

Irving was already on his way there.

This is Chicago...with the right FO, we could be a gigantic FA magnet.
Is there any reason what so ever why we can't have a "culture" like San Antonio?

[Mech Engineer]

You have to have a front office that can be power players. You look at the nets situation it was literally one of the worst ever and now they are contenders. Even what took place in Toronto. John paxson is just not on that level. We are forced to have to make excuses for mediocrity to maintain a level of sanity. Its damn near a church around here how we have to rely on faith and hope for the future.

And, if you observe Marks is from New Zealand and Masai from Africa. It is their leadership, drive and modern day skills like using analytics, communication etc.. which has got them to make an impact on horrible teams. The Nets still have to do something in the playoffs but from where they were...probably the bleakest future in the league(with no picks and no history), it is a miracle to where they are now.

And, this is what merit based appointments do -> good results. You are hiring the best possible person for the job and not someone based on nepotism or fondness.

[kulaz3000]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2844892-kevin-durants-injury-timeline-free-agent-process-discussed-by-nets-sean-marks

KD already knew he was going to the Nets. But the backstory on how the Nets got there is amazing. They brought in a new GM and they changed EVERYTHING.

I must be missing something, because despite scouring the page for a link to a page 2, I read virtually nothing that describes anything amazing. I don't even read anything about hiring a new GM so I must be missing some of the content there.

If KD did commit without talking to them, that kinda means that other than having the cap space, their new GM was not a factor.

I have to agree, there really wasn't anything considered an amazing insight in this piece at all.

[Dresden]

If the Nets aren’t in New York, they don’t sign Durant. Simple.

If the Nets were the old Nets...they don't sign Durant.

Irving was already on his way there.

This is Chicago...with the right FO, we could be a gigantic FA magnet.
Is there any reason what so ever why we can't have a "culture" like San Antonio?

But Stepic is right- Nets could have done everything right, but if they weren't in NY, it would all be for naught. Some things you just can't do anything about. LA is always going to be a magnet for players because it's the hip place to be, and has Hollywood and so much of the entertainment industry. NY is probably second in terms of being close to the entertainment industry.

Those places are always going to have a leg up on the rest of the league when it comes to attracting FA's. Miami, too, with it's night life and culture and weather.

So teams like the Bulls have to be able to find a way to offset those advantages somehow. Having a young, exciting management team and a more youthful (and diverse) culture in the FO sure would help. Our FO looks like a scene from "Hoosiers".

[DuckIII]

The attempt to stretch this into a condemnation of how the Bulls do business is preposterous. If we hired an Australian league football coach as a key leader of the training staff this board would go ape **** with ridicule.

Good for the Nets. But this all comes down to KD and Kyrie wanted the NY market (the article even admits this as the threshold issue!) and chose the Nets over the Knicks because, unlike the Knicks, the Nets were trending in the right direction and their owner isn’t the laughing stock of American pro sports.

“Player development became a priority.” How revolutionary. Maybe now NBA teams will finally start trying to develop their players!

[keloms]

You've got an owner with 70's & 80's business mindset and management and all successors that learned working under and with him so it's never going to change or evolve. Looking at the play style should tell you all you need to know. The rest of the league has evolved to shooter dominant and Bulls are sitting there building teams for the 90's & 2000's style.

There is no legacy here, there is no championship environment or culture to live up to. The only two periods of success this organization had was landing two draft picks that worked out unbelievably great. There's absolutely nothing here that players can't get the equivalent of (or better than) elsewhere. Had it not been for lucking into them, this organization is no different than the Orlando Magic or Memphis Grizzlies.

[panthermark]

The attempt to stretch this into a condemnation of how the Bulls do business is preposterous. If we hired an Australian league football coach as a key leader of the training staff this board would go ape **** with ridicule.

Good for the Nets. But this all comes down to KD and Kyrie wanted the NY market (the article even admits this as the threshold issue!) and chose the Nets over the Knicks because, unlike the Knicks, the Nets were trending in the right direction and their owner isn’t the laughing stock of American pro sports.

“Player development became a priority.” How revolutionary. Maybe now NBA teams will finally start trying to develop their players!

If by "we" you mean GARPAX, then you missed the point. You are a pretty sharp guy, so I know you know better than that.

The attempt to simplify this into "they hired an Australian league football coach as a key leader of the training staff" is preposterous.

[DuckIII]

The attempt to stretch this into a condemnation of how the Bulls do business is preposterous. If we hired an Australian league football coach as a key leader of the training staff this board would go ape **** with ridicule.

Good for the Nets. But this all comes down to KD and Kyrie wanted the NY market (the article even admits this as the threshold issue!) and chose the Nets over the Knicks because, unlike the Knicks, the Nets were trending in the right direction and their owner isn’t the laughing stock of American pro sports.

“Player development became a priority.” How revolutionary. Maybe now NBA teams will finally start trying to develop their players!

If by "we" you mean GARPAX, then you missed the point. You are a pretty sharp guy, so I know you know better than that.

The attempt to simplify this into "they hired an Australian league football coach as a key leader of the training staff" is preposterous.

It wasn’t a simplification. It was an illustration. This article doesn’t provide a road map to anything except that if you build a brand new arena in Brooklyn and are competent, free agents will be interested.

[Mech Engineer]

You've got an owner with 70's & 80's business mindset and management and all successors that learned working under and with him so it's never going to change.

There is no legacy here, there is no championship environment or culture to live up to. The only two periods of success this organization had was landing two draft picks that worked out unbelievably great. Had it not been for lucking into them, this organization is no different than the Orlando Magic or Memphis Grizzlies.

Not to make it about the Bulls but looking at the Nets, what they have done is really amazing even if they never get beyond an ECF berth. It will be really interesting to compare their future with what Boston will do. Boston got all those picks and was the darling of everyone but not being opportunistic in selling those picks at the right time has caused them to not achieve their lofty goals.

The Nets have done a fabulous job and using those expiring contracts, player development to get a 6th seed without almost any top picks of their own is commendable. A good GM can use multiple tools but also do it well. The Bulls also hired that PhD lady in nutrition(Jenn Swann) and she failed miserably. It is the ability to not just pick players in a draft but the leadership/innovation/diligence in other areas which can also impact the team.