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The Brooklyn Nets are in the early stages of a rebuild. However, with an NBA-best 13 tradable first-round picks and over $50 million in cap space, the team has the ammo to go star hunting as early as this summer.
General manager Sean Marks said such an acquisition would need to turn the Nets into a title contender. Anything short of that is a non-starter.
“You will always have those opportunities. Whether we do or not, when we go in, those are questions that I cannot answer,” Marks replied when asked by ClutchPoints about potential star trades. “If you’re going after max-level talent, they have to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a 6-7 seed. When we go all-in, you’re going into compete at the highest level and contend.”
Asked Sean Marks what qualities the Nets are looking for in a star acquisition:
“If you’re going after max-level talent, they have to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this [guy] and lock ourselves into being a 6-7… pic.twitter.com/HOY8ZJivB7
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) April 14, 2025
Today's NBA features a bevy of stars. However, franchise-altering talents who can be the top player on a championship team? That's a much shorter list.
Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards fit the bill, among a few others. Antetokounmpo is the only one of those players likely to be available in the near future.
According to various reports, the Nets would be in the mix if the two-time MVP hit the market.
Sean Marks addresses Nets' rebuild plans ahead of pivotal offseason
However, a trade for Antetokounmpo is far from a no-brainer. Brooklyn would have to part with a massive chunk of its assets and use the remainder to build a contending roster around the soon-to-be 31-year-old.
A new CBA that restricts spending has made building around veteran superstar acquisitions more challenging.
Marks acknowledged this.
“I do think it is important to have guys under contract that you control the contracts. You drafted them, you developed them, and they got to their second contract under your watch. It’s difficult when you’re trying to acquire max-level talent on max contracts,” the GM replied when asked by ClutchPoints about the new CBA. “Those days are probably gone [where you're] going and getting 2-3 max free agents and so forth. Those are gonna be more difficult to do
“I think it’s important to have some value contracts on your roster. How do we do that? We’ve gotta draft right. I think our draft process has worked. We know what’s at stake this year. BJ [Johnson] has done a heck of a job the last several years running that draft process for us. He’s excited about what lies ahead over these next several years.”
Asked Sean Marks how the new CBA will impact how the Nets rebuild:
“It’s important to have guys under (rookie) contracts that you control. You drafted them, you developed them… It’s difficult when you’re trying to acquire max-level talent on max contracts. Those days are… pic.twitter.com/JcVfOAm12l
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) April 14, 2025
As Marks notes, drafting and developing have become vital for sustainable success. Brooklyn's path outside Antetokounmpo would center on a build through the draft for the first time in decades.
The Nets paid a steep price to reacquire their 2025 and 2026 first-round picks from the Houston Rockets this summer. A 26-56 season landed them the sixth-best odds in this year's lottery and a chance at a top-tier prospect.
Another tank next season, potentially more aggressive, would give the Nets a shot at generational talents such as Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer. Whether they will commit to that route or go for a quick fix will be the question of the offseason.
“We need to be opportunistic,” Marks said. “In this market, we’re always going to have various different free agents and opportunities thrown at us, just simply being in a top-five market in the league; that’s going to happen. We don’t want to get sped up. We’ve talked multiple times about being systematic and strategic in how we build here. We know we have 15 first-round picks in the next six, seven years.
“So, there’s a lot of draft assets at stake. There’s a lot of cap room at stake. And how we use that, it’s probably too early to determine. But there’s a variety of different pathways we can go, and it’s just about being opportunistic as to how we build and when we go all in again, so to speak. And that could be going all in with whether it’s free agents or trades, but it also could be go all in with systematically growing some homegrown talent. We’ve done that in the past and grown some guys here, developed guys here, as well as attracted top-tier talent from elsewhere.”
