For the primary a number of years of Nets basic supervisor Sean Marks’ rebuilding course of, one couldn’t spend 5 minutes within the constructing with out listening to the buzzword “tradition.”
In Marks’ first feedback because the Nets’ first-round sweep by the hands of Boston, he admitted Wednesday that ballyhooed tradition has taken a giant hit.
“Did we take a step again? Indubitably. The tradition isn’t what it fairly was. It’s going to be our job to select that up,” Marks stated. “Between [coach] Steve [Nash] and myself because the leaders of that, we’ll definitely be doing that.
“However we’ve acquired to search out the gamers that’ll drive that tradition. It needs to be pushed by gamers. It may well’t be pushed by one or two folks. It’s acquired to be pushed by the gamers. They’ve acquired to need it. We’ve acquired to search out gamers which have the traits that assist that, which goes to be grit, dedication and battle.”
Discovering them this summer time is how Marks will earn his pay.
“On the finish of the day,” he stated, “the buck stops right here.”
Marks pushed again on the assertion that the Nets leaned too far into participant empowerment with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, saying it was usually misunderstood. However contemplating not simply the playoff sweep however the inner drama that led to it, it’s clear the Nets should add the appropriate grown-ups to their locker room.
“There’s been far an excessive amount of debate, dialogue, scuttlebutt — no matter you need to name it — about distractions and about issues which might be exterior of basketball, whereas we’d prefer to concentrate on doing the issues that acquired us right here within the first place,” Marks stated. “That’s specializing in the grit, the resilience and placing a workforce collectively that encompasses that and the borough of Brooklyn will be happy with.
“It begins with roster building, it begins with our preparation, it begins with the summertime. We’ve prided ourselves previously with discovering gamers with a chip on their shoulder, with a resilience, with one thing to show. We’re going to have to return to that. We’re going to have to return to trying extra of their growth, extra at discovering the appropriate traits of a participant that matches right here.”
Whereas Marks stated the purpose with this roster continues to be “to be the final workforce standing,” he additionally stated he realizes large contracts doled out to the likes of Durant, Ben Simmons and (presumably) Irving will make the remainder of the roster a revolving door. There might be gamers approaching rookie offers and veteran minimums.
“Our workforce goes to look vastly completely different each single yr. It has to, in the event you have a look at our financials,” Marks stated. “It’s going to be a revolving circle down there. We’ve acquired to draft proper; our group has proven that we will draft proper. Our participant growth guys have proven they’ve developed gamers. The tradition goes to at all times change and tweak as to who is available in right here.”
The Nets’ acquisitions from final summer time, Jevon Carter and James Johnson, are lengthy gone, in order that revolving circle should land on extra gamers like former Nets Jeff Inexperienced, Garrett Temple, Jared Dudley and Ed Davis to get this chemical combine proper.
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